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WALLER'S 

HISTORY 

OP 

ILLINOIS 




ELBERT WALLER 
TAMAROA, ILLINOIS 



3> 




Class 




Book_.WSi^ 



Copyii§ht>i- 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSm 



Many free countries have lost their lib- 
erty, and ours may lose hers; but if she 
shall, be it my proudest plume, not that I 
•was the last to desert, but that I never 
deserted her. 




To the sacred memory of 
the brave pioneers who 
made this Great State possible, 
this Httle book is affectionately 
dedicated by the author. 



WALLER'S 

HISTORY 

OF 

ILLINOIS 



BY 
ELBERT WALLER, A. M. 

TAMAROA, ILLINOIS 



1920 
SEVENTH EDITION 



WAGONER PRINTING COMPANY 
GALESBURG, ILLINOIS 






COPYRIGHT 192/ BY 
ELBERT WALLER 



FEB 18 1921 
g)CU608793 



PREFACE 



Illinois has contri1)uted so larg-ely to American 
history that we cannot fully comprehend the story 
of our beloved country unless we know something 
of tlie trials and triumphs of the people who have 
given to Illinois its prominence in national affairs. 

It is my aim here to present the important facts 
in Illinois history in chronological order and in brief 
and tangible shape without making any attempt at 
rhetorical display. 

Grateful acknowledgements are due to Ex- 
County Superintendent Mrs. Emma M. Bryan, of 
Murphysboro, to Ex-County Superintendent Mau- 
rice A. Mudd, of Chester, to Editor H. L. Farmer, 
of Tamaroa, to Dr. J. T. Marlow, of Tamaroa, to 
Dr. J. F. Snyder, of Virginia, to Captain Herman 
Mayhew, of Morgan Park Military Academy, and to 
many other friends who have been of material help 
in preparing the facts here presented. 

I Avish likewise to express my gratitude to the 
tens of thousands of teachers and students who 
have taught and studied earlier issues of this book 
and have patronized me so liberally; 

Elbert Waller 



WE ARE ININI" 



While on his journey down the Mississippi, Mar- 
quette discovered human footprints near the mouth 
of the Des Moines and by tracing them a distance of 
five or six miles he reached an Indian village. He 
called out in the Algonquin tongue, "Who are you?" 
and received the reply, ''We are Inini." This was in- 
terpreted to mean real men as distinguished from the 
Iroquois, whom they hated for their cruelty. From 
Inini it changed to Illini; the adjective ending, ese or 
ois, was added and it became Illinese and finally 
Illinois. From that time on, Illinois was a general 
term applied to all the Indians of this region. 




Cahokia Around near £ast St. Louis — the Largest Pyramid in the 

World — 102 feet high, 780 feet wide and 1080 feet long. 

Erected by hand, probably as early as 500 B. C. 



CHAPTER I 

THE ABORIGINES 

1. Unsolved Problems. Who were the first men 
on Illinois soil and whence came they? These are 
questions that are as puzzling as the Sphinx's Rid- 
dle and questions that may never be answered. 
They left us their graves and their mounds, their 
only history. Whether these mounds were for an- 
cestral worship or the worship of a Supreme Being 
or whether they were for defense, we know not. 
As a race, whither did they go? Was each race ex- 
terminated by a succeeding one or were they all the 
ancestors of the Indians? These questions are like- 
wise^ unanswerable. They gave us their country, 
but its history vanished with those who made it. 
All we know is that the Indians were here when the 
white man came. Of those who were here we shall 
try to tell you. 

2. Groups of Indians. Since the Indians were 
more or less nomadic it is hard to classify them and 
to tell just what lands each tribe occupied. Early 
explorers arrange those east of the Mississippi into 



10 ILLIXOIS 

three great groups; the Muscogees, living in the 
south ; the Iroquois or Five Nations (rather eight 
nations), inhabiting the country from New York to 
the St. Lawrence and westward to the Great Lakes ; 
the Algonquins, the most powerful of them all, oc- 
cupying practically all the remaining territory. 

3. The mini Federation. When LaSalle came 
he found the Indians, later known as the Illini Fed- 
eration, occupying most of the region drained by the 
Illinois river and its tributaries. This federation 
may be said to have been composed of the follow- 
ing: the Kaskaskias, the Cahokias, the Peorias ; the 
Tamaroas, and the Mitchigamies. 

4. The Miami Federation. Next is the wise and 
daring Miami Federation. It was composed of the 
Miamis, the Eel-Rivers, the Weas, and the Pianke- 
shaws. They occupied a broad expanse of territory 
to the eastward. 

5. Other Indians. Other tribes not in federa- 
tions were : the Winnebagoes, the Kickapoos, the 
Pottawatomies, the Sacs and Foxes who settled to- 
gether on Rock River, and the Shawnees who Avere 
not Algonquins but who came from Georgia and 
settled in the Ohio Valley.* Of the Winnebago 
tribe, Blanchard in his Llistory of the Northwest, 
says : *'The Winnebagoes were of the Sioux stock 
and may be set down as the most heroic of all, they 
never having been conquered on the field of battle, 
either by other tribes or even by the armies of the 
United States, as the fate of Custer's army in 1879 
gives melancholy experience." 

* A Piankeshaw tradition says that they themselves al- 
waj^s lived here and that the Shawnees just came up out 
of the ground. 



ILLINOIS n 

6. Early Indian Wans. Wars among these 
tribes were common, each struggling for the best 
hunting ground. The most noted will, alone, re- 
quire our attention. The Winnebagoes from the 
west, the Sacs, the Foxes and the Kickapoos from 
the north and the fierce Iroquois from the far east, 
made such inroads on the Illini that they became 
weak and discouraged. The Tamaroas were fol- 
lowed to the Mississippi and after hundreds of the 
"braves" were killed, 700 women and children were 
carried away as slaves. 

7. Help from the French. In 1679 LaSalle built 
Fort Creve Cour on Peoria Lake, but while he w^as 
on an expedition down the Illinois and the Mississ- 
ippi rivers the fort was destroyed. Not to be dis- 
mayed, he, in 1682, built Fort St. Louis on what is 
now known as Starved Rock The Illini, with a ral- 
lying of their old courage, came to him and built up 
prosperous villages around him. (See 12.) 

8. Cahokia and Kaskaskia. In 1700 the Kaskas- 
kias left Old Kaskaskia (where Utica now stands') 
and founded a New Kaskaskia (now usually spoken 
of as Old Kaskaskia), near the mouth of the river 
then given that name (now called Okaw). The Ca- 
hokias and the Tamaroas made a settlement at 
Tamaroa, later known as Cahokia, in what has long 
been known as the ''American Bottom," south of the 
city of East St. Louis. The Peorias went to the lake 
which now bears their name. Fear of the Iroquois 
seems to have been what prompted the Tamaroas 
and Cahokias to leave their old hunting ground but 
now, when they were at peace, many of them con- 
cluded to go back. Then other old but unexpected 
enemies appeared on the scene. (See 14.) 



12 ILLINOIS 




StarA'ed Rock 

9. The mini Exterminated. In 1769 a Peoria 
Indian, being bribed for a barrel of rum, killed Pon- 
tiac, an Ottawa chief, at Cahokia. This brought on 
a war from the tribes that had so long been loyal 
to him. The Iroquois had troubles at home and 
never joined in, but the Sacs and Foxes, the Potta- 
watomies, and the Kickapoos "never forgot" and in 
that same year, the last of that noble Federation, 
took refuge on the site of old Fort. St. Louis and 
there perished of thirst and hunger. From this 
tragic incident, Starved Rock gets its name. 

10. The First and the Last. The maps on the 
two succeeding pages will show you about where 
they were when the white men found them and 
where they were when their lands came under the 
control of the United States of America. Their 
further history is uneventful except as they appear 
in the War of 1812 and in the Black Hawk War. 



ILLINOIS 13 

His prairies and his forests have been transformed 
into fields of golden grain or into magnificent cities. 
On his trail has been built the railroad, on which 
mighty engines of commerce, in the hands of a new 
race, are pushing him onward and onward to that 
Land from which no traveler ever returns — his 
Happy Hunting Ground. 

"No more for them the wild deer bounds, 
The plow is on their hunting ground; 
The pale man's axe rings through their woods, 
The pale man's sail skims o'er their floods." 



si 



LOOBTJOtt 

OF 
I/JDIRNS 

teaz 





LOCATION 

OF 

IhDJAM3 

I7SZ. 




Marquette's First Glimpse of Illinois 



CHAPTER II 

EXPLORATION, CONQUEST AND SETTLEMENT 

1673-1781 

11. Marquette and Joliet. Father Jacques Mar- 
quette, a Jesuit priest, and Louis Joliet, a French 
Canadian fur trader, were the first white men to set 
foot on Illinois soil. In 1673 they crossed what is 
now Wisconsin, westward to the Mississippi, then 
sailed down that river and finally up the Illinois. 
Crossing overland from the headwaters of the latter, 
they returned by Lake Michigan to the mission at 
Green Bay, whence they started. Marquette re- 
turned to the mini country the next year, preached 
to the Indians and established a mission — the first 



ILLINOIS 17 

church in Illinois. He soon became afflicted with 
that dread disease, consumption, and started to re- 
turn to Canada. On the south shore of Lake Mich- 
i^^an he died and was there buried. Later the In- 
dians took up his remains and, with great reverence, 
took them to the mission at St. Ignace. Joliet had 
command of the expedition and was later given the 
island of Anticosti for his services to France. Mar- 
quette went along as a subordinate. Public opinion 
honors Marquette the more and why not justly so? 
He wanted nothing for his services. He was a man 
of God "whose saintly character will long remain 
an inspiration to men of every creed and calling." 
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay 
down his life for his friends." The mission he es- 
tablished was called the Mission of the Immaculate 
Conception of the Blessed Virgin. It was kept up 
and it kept its name even after they moved to the 
new settlements of Tamaroa and Kaskaskia. It is 
the name by which the church and parish in the 
vicinity of Kaskaskia are still known. (See appen- 
dix IL) 

12. LaSalle and Tonti. The French now re- 
solved to take possession of the Illini country and 
sent Robert Cavalier de LaSalle and Henry Tonti 
(an Italian) to build a line of forts. In 1679 they 
went to the south end of Peoria Lake, where they 
built Fort Creve Cour (see appendix 12), the oldest 
fortress in the state. An enemy of LaSalle's told the 
Indians that LaSalle was an Iroquois spy and caused 
them to be unfriendly to his party. They sailed 
down to the Gulf of Mexico, claimed all the country- 
for France and returning, built Fort St. Louis on 
Starved Rock, orc^anized the Illini tribes and other 



18 



ILLINOIS 



tribes into another federation (see 3) in 1682. "From 
this fortress inaccessible as an eagle's nest, LaSalle 
looked down upon the homes of more than twenty 
thousand Indians." Leaving Tonti, he went to 
France and tried to return by way of the Gulf of 
Mexico, but he could not find the mouth of the 
Mississippi. He was finally assassinated by one of 




■/ yj 



Robert Cavalier de LaSalle 

his own men, 1687. Thus died in the prime of his 
manhood, Robert Cavalier de LaSalle, "without 
doubt one of the most remarkable explorers whose 
names live in history." "Never, under the imper- 
ishable mail of paladin or crusader, beat a heart of 
more intrepid mettle." Tonti was greatly grieved 
at the death of LaSalle but he did not give up. He 
had been in the French military service and had lost 
his right arm in battle. Parkman says, "He was 
brave, loyal and generous, always vigilant and al- 
ways active, beloved and feared alike by the white 
man and the red." He was the man of the hour, the 



ILLINOIS 19 

only one who could hold things together. He re- 
mained until the colony grew stronger and was 
moved to Cahokia and Kaskaskia at the mouth of 
the Okaw. Then he founded a colony at Natchez. 
Mississippi, and later went to the French colonies 
which had been established on the Gulf of Mexico, 
where he died in 1704. 

13. Father Hennepin. Father Hennepin was 
with LaSalle and was sent to explore the upper 
Mississippi. He got as far as the Falls of St. An- 
thony, was captured by the Indians, escaped, re- 
turned to France and wrote what is thought to be a 
true account of his expedition. After LaSalle's 
death, Hennepin wrote a dififerent story, retracting 
his former one and claiming to have been the first 
to explore the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. 
The latter story is an impossible one as his dates 
are badly mixed. 

14. Tamaroa, Kaskaskia, Louisiana. Other 
Frenchmen came over bringing their families. The 
Kaskaskias decided to abandon their old village and, 
in 1700, they formed at the mouth of the Kaskaskia 
River what has since been known as Kaskaskia. 
Here with them some of the French formed a set- 
tlement. Some of the white people also went to the 
Tamaroa (now Cahokia) settlement. It is thus evi- 
dent that the first two white settlements in Illinois, 
Tamaroa and Kaskaskia, were simultaneous — 1700. 
Since they were going down the river it is quite 
probable that the Tamaroa settlement was a day or 
two the earlier. In 1712, the Illinois country was 
made a part of the Louisiana Territory instead of a 
part of Canada. A man named Crozat, a favorite 
of the King, was given a franchise to mine the prec- 



20 ILLINOIS 

ions metals from the hills of Illinois. He failed to 
g-et rich and this was followed by the Mississippi 
Scheme by the notorious John Law. (See John 
Law in Eng. Hist.) 

15. Fort Chartres. In the year 1718 Louis XIV, 
King- of France, appointed Pierre Duque Boisbraint 
as Military Commandant in the Illinois Country, 
About 18 miles up the Mississippi from Kaskaskia 
he built a fortress and called it Fort Chartres. The 
stone of which it was built was brought from the 
bluffs to the east. It was not completed for about 
thirty years, but it cost a million dollars and prac- 
tically bankrupted the government of France. It 
was the greatest structure of its kind on the Wes- 
tern Continent, but it never fired a hostile shot. 

16. Slavery Introduced. In the year 1719, just 
a hundred years after slavery was introduced into 
Virginia, Philip Renault bought five hundred slaves 
in San Domingo and brought them to Kaskaskia 
and Fort Chartres expecting to use them in mining- 
precious metals, of which the bluffs were supposed 
to be full. After this hallucination disappeared the 
slaves were sold to the planters. These slaves were 
the forefathers of the slave population of Illinois. 

17. Surrender of Fort Chartres. When the brave 
General Wolfe and his men defeated the French at 
Quebec, the fate of the future Illinois was practically 
decided, for it led to the signing of the Treaty of 
Paris September 3rd, 1763, which provided that 
France g-ive all her territory east of the Mississippi 
to the English. The English proceeded with cau- 
tion to occupy their new territory and it was Octo- 
ber 10th, 1765, when Capt. Sterling, with his 42nd 
Highlanders, took possession of Fort Chartres, 



ILLINOIS 21 

which we have said before was the seat of French 
government in Illinois. On the above date the Lilies 
of France came down from the flagstaff and the 
Union Jack (the flag of Great Britain adopted in 
1707), went up in its place. The people were guar- 
anteed religious freedom and all the rights of British 
subjects if they would take the oath of allegiance 
to the King of England and if they chose to remain 
French subjects they were at liberty to go to French 
territory, taking along all their goods and chattels. 
Possibly as many as two-thirds of them went to St. 
Louis not knowing that region had been secretly 
ceded to Spain. 

• 18. Proclamation of George III. On the 24th 
day of October, 1765, George III issued a proclama- 
tion which forbade any of his ''loving subjects" to 
acquire title to any of this territory w^rested from the 
French. That he intended to divide the whole coun- 
try west of the Alleghenies into baronial estates and 
thus establish a government similar to the old Feu- 
dal System in a vast inland empire, cannot be 
doubted. 

19. The Jury System Adopted. Hitherto the 
people had been content to allow the Priest to act 
as judge and jury in disputed cases but the Eno^lish 
wanted something different and the jury system was 
adopted. The first court in Illinois was convened 
at Fort Chartres December 9th, 1768. 

20. Fort Gage. In 1772 the Mississippi over- 
flowed its banks and sw^ept away a part of Fort 
Chartres. The British had now an enemy that no 
bravery could daunt, so they built a fort near Kas- 
kaskia and called it Fort Gage, in honor of General 
Gage who had command of the British troops in 
Boston. 



22 



ILLINOIS 



^ 



^S*: 




Powder Magazine — the last relic af old Fort Chartres 

21. The Quebec Act. In the year 1774, the Brit- 
ish Parliament .passed what was known as the 
''Quebec Act," which annexed all the territory north 
of the Ohio to Canada. By virtue of their original 
charters, Virginia, Massachusetts and Connecticut 
claimed this territory. As might be expected, the 
people of these colonies did not like this high- 
handed way of doing business and resented it in 
words that forbode revolution. The sequel to this 
resistance to British tyranny may be attributed 
greatly to the character of the people and to their 
manner of living. The soil was fertile and it 
yielded abundantly to those who tilled it. Like- 
wise the forest furnished plenty of game for the 
hunter. So bountiful was the supply from field 



ILLINOIS 23 

and forest that many of the people were employed 
in taking flatboats filled with produce down to- 
New Orleans. While most of them were of a 
reverential turn of mind, yet they were a "happy- 
g-o-lucky" sort of people and life passed merrily 
among them. Frolics were common and the Rev- 
erend Father was often the leading figure among 
them. 

22. Three Indian Departments. On July 13th, 
1775, the Continental Congress which was then in 
session at Philadelphia, established three Indian de- 
partments, viz : the Northern, the Middle and the 
Southern. The Illinois Country belonged to the 
Middle. This law never amounted to anything but 
it is worthy of mention because it was the first leg- 
islation in America concerning Illinois. 

23. Clark's Daring Scheme. George Rogers 
Clark conceived the bold project of taking the Illi- 
nois Country from the British. This pleased Pat- 
rick Henry, Governor of Virginia, who on January 
2nd, 1778, commissioned him Lieutenant Colonel, 
gave him orders to organize seven companies of 
fifty men each and to proceed to take the British 
post of Kaskaskia. The real object of raising these 
companies was kept a secret and, in order to delude 
British sympathizers, a public order was given to 
proceed to Kentucky and protect the settlers against 
the Indians. 

24. Clark Starts to Take Kaskaskia. Colonel 
Clark, with three companies, went down the Ohio 
from Fort Pitt to Corn Island.. Here he was joined^ 
by about a hundred Kentuckians. For the first time- 
he made known the real object of the campaign.. 
About a hundred men deserted, leaving him about 



24 ILLINOIS 

the same number as before but undoubtedly of bet- 
ter mettle. 

25. Providential Aid. While going- down the 
river he was overtaken by Captain Linn who bore 
a message that France and America had formed an 
alliance. Smith's History of Illinois says this was 
Providential. It might be said to have been Provi- 
dential also that a party of hunters who knew the 
trails fell in with them. 

26. Overland to Kaskaskia. Believing the Miss- 
issippi to be fortified, Colonel Clark chose to g^o 
overland to Kaskaskia, and landed about a mile 
above Fort Massac. On the 29th of June he started 
across the countrv. On the third day they got lost 
in what is now Williamson County. Suspecting the 
g-uide (one of the hunters), they threatened to kill 
him, but he found the trail and they reached the 
blufifs overlooking Kaskaskia on the sixth day — 
July 4th, 1778. 

27. The Taking of Kaskaskia. The attack was 
well planned. His little army was divided into three 
divisions and under the cover of darkness, the left 
one was to cross the Kaskaskia River below the 
town ; the rig-ht was to cross above ; both to await 
orders from Clark who led the center into town. A 
big ''frolic" for which Kaskaskia was famous, was 
in progress and all were there, even the garrison. 
Leaving his men outside, Clark boldly walked in 
and stood, an interested spectator. An Indian brave 
discovered him and gave a war-whoop. All was ex- 
^citement but Clark tried to quiet them, bidding them 

to go on with the dance, adding that he had "jest 
■ drapped in" to tell them that they were dancinsr 
\under the flag of Virginia instead of the flag of 



ILLINOIS 




Great Britain. They were all ordered to give up 
their arms, to go to their homes and not to attempt 
to leave under penalty of death. The word was 
given to all the soldiers who immediately took pos- 
session of the town. The Union Jack came down 
and the Stars and Stripes went up. (See Clark's 
Memoirs.) The little army whose bravery had won 
this bloodless battle, paraded the streets all night, 
yelling like savages. Nobody slept. 

28. Father Gibault's Plea. The next day, ''with 
fear and trembling," a number of the old men, led 
by Father Gibault, begged for mercy for his people 
and particularly that members of families should 
not be separated, possibly having in mind the treat- 
ment of the Acadians. Never did a bright manhood 
shine bore brightly through a rough exterior than 
when Clark answered, "Do you take us for sav- 



26 r.LIXO^S 

ages?" and explained to them that their French 
brethren were in alliance with the Americans and 
that England was a common enemy. They all took 
the oath of allegiance to the United States of Amer- 
ica. Cahokia and all the adjacent community 
promptly yielded and Young America became firmly 
established on Illinois soil. 

29. Captain Helm. In the autumn of this year, 
Captain Helm with a small force, not enough for a 
corporal's guard, went over to "Vincennes on the 
Wabash," persuaded the people to place themselves 
under American rule, and Captain Helm became 
Commandant. 

30. The "Hair-buyer." On the 15th of the fol- 
lowing- December, Sir Henry Hamilton (the hair- 
buyer), with eighty red-coats and four hundred In- 
dian braves, advanced upon the fort at Vincennes 
and demanded its surrender. Captain Helm de- 
manded the honors of war. His terms were granted, 
and the "entire garrison, consisting of one officer and 
one man, walked out with colors flying." 

31. Clark's Trip to Vincennes. "I must now 
take Hamilton or he will take me," said Colonel 
Clark. Accordingly, on February 10th, 1779, he 
started a keel-boat down the Mississippi with forty- 
six men and some supplies, to co-operate with him 
in command of his old soldiers and a company of 
Frenchmen, one hundred seventy in all, marching 
overland to Vincennes. In a brief work we cannot 
enumerate the hardships experienced on this expe- 
dition. Crossing the drowned lands of the Wabash 
would discourage anyone but men of mettle. By 
wading, swimming and rafting, they got through, 
the stronger helping the weaker, and on February 
22nd they saw Vincennes. 



ILLINOIS 



27 




Clark Crossing: the Drowned Lands of the Wabash 

(From Anderson's Grammar School History, published by Chas. E. 
Merrill Co., Chicago and New York) 



32. Clark's letter. The next day Colonel Clark 
sent in the following note : 
To the Inhabitants of Vinccnncs : 

Being now within two miles of your village with my 
army, determined to take your fort this night, and not 
being willing to surprise you, I take this opportunity to 
request such of you as are true citizens and willing to 
enjoy the liberty which I bring you, to remain still in your 
houses and those, if any there be, who are friends of the 
King, let them instantly repair to the fort and join the 
hair-buyer general and fight like men. If any of the latter 
do not go to the fort and shall be discovered afterwards, 
they may depend upon severe punishment. On the con- 
trary, those who are true friends to liberty, may depend 
upon being well treated and I once more request them to 



28 ILLINOIS 

keep out of the streets, for every one I find in arms on 
my arrival shall be treated as an enemy. 

Respectfully yours, 

George Rogers Clark. 

33. The Taking of Vincennes. As indicated, 
fire was opened on the fort that nio-ht. The fire was 
returned. This continued all nig-ht and practically 
all the next day. Late in the afternoon Hamilton 
signed articles of capitulation and the fort was for- 
mally delivered February 25th, 1779. Colonel Clark's 
army, two hundred sixteen men, had taken from 
Great Britain territory enough for an empire. 

34. Clark's Last Days. Shall we follow this 
great man's career further? We fain would do so 
but a few words must sufifice. It often happens that 
those whom God means shall do good works are to 
be wrongly treated by the very ones whom they are 
to benefit. This case was no exception. Personally 
he was never paid anything nor was he in any way 
rewarded. He asked for a pension but Congress 
voted him a sword. He answered, 'T asked for 
bread and they gave me a toy." He suffered many 
years with rheumatism contracted in his country's 
service, and died neglected and in poverty, the same 
year that the Illinois Country which he had gained 
for America, became a state — 1818. 

35. Illinois County Organized. Witchcraft. 

In 1778, the Legislature of Virginia created the 
ofTfice of Lieutenant-commandant of the Illinois 
Country and Governor Henry appointed John 
Todd of Kentucky, to fill the place. Todd ar- 
rived at Kaskaskia the next year and issued a proc- 
lamation organizing Illinois County. He appointed 
a Magistrate at Kaskaskia, one at Cahokia, and 



1 



ILLINOIS 29 

another at Prairie du Rocher, to hold court at 
their respective places. He also appointed a Cap- 
tain of the Militia at each place to assist the Mas:- 
istrate in carrying out the laws. Among the early 
settlers superstition held sway and many still be- 
lieved in witchcraft. One negro at Kaskaskia and 
one at Cahokia were sentenced to be burned at 
the stake and their ashes scattered. Mr, Todd 
signed their death-warrant in 1777, and they 
were duly executed. Doubtless there were others, 
but these are the only ones of which we have any 
reliable record. Mr. Todd went to Kentucky in 
1780 and was killed in a fight with the Indians. For 
the next ten years, Illinois was practically without 
any government. (See 43.) 



CHAPTER III 

'^WAY OUT WEST TO ILLINOY"'' 

1781-1818 

I hear the tread of pioneers, 

Of nations yet to be, 
The first low wash of waves, 

Where soon shall roll a human sea, 

— Whittier 

36. Settlement of the American Bottom. Col. 
George Rogers Clark was not only a soldier. He 
was a pathfinder as well. After the Revolution, 
some of the men who had been with him emigrated 
to the Illinois Country and settled near the Mississ- 
ippi, above Kaskaskia, in what has since been 
known as the ''American Bottom." They were fol- 
lowed by other emigration parties from ''Back East." 
who pushed across the mountains to the Mononga- 
hela Valley or to Pittsburg, built large flat-boats or 
keel-boats on which they loaded all their belongings 
and finally landed somewhere in that strange new 
country — Illinois. 

Z7 . Keel-Boats. When the white man came to 
Illinois, it became necessary to establish trade 
routes. The pioneer boatment were quick to see 
their chance and built what was known as keel- 
boats, possibly fifteen or twenty feet wide and fifty 
or sixty feet long, and with these crafts they plied 
the Ohio and the Mississippi from Pittsburg to 
New Orleans. Regardless of the fact that they w^ere 
in constant danger of being attacked by Indians or 



ILLINOIS 81 

other boatmen, they drank and gambled and had a 
glorious time generally as they went down, but the 
return trip was full of hardships. Often they could 
make no progress at all against the current and they 
had to go ahead and tie a rope to a tree, then pull 
themselves up "hands over," or wind the rope up 
on a windlass. It is not surprising that a trip often 
took a whole season. 

38. Pioneer Boatmen. These boatmen were 
strong and courageous and knew what hardships 
were. They despised a life of ease and luxury. 
They feared neither God nor devil, and much further 
were they from fearing man. They often had to 
fight Indians and even sometimes competing crews 
fought to the death. It was their very nature to love 
excitement and if nothing else offered to provide it. 
they would often have a fight just to see who could 
whip. (See Pioneer Days by the Author.) 

39. Duplicity of France. France (not individual 
Frenchmen like Lafayette) had agreed to help the 
United States in the Revolution more on account of 
her enmity to England than her good feeling for 
America, and when the negotiations which led to a 
treaty of peace between the United States and Great 
Britain were in progress it was plain that the French 
representative was warmly supporting the claim of 
Spain to all territory west of the Alleghenies. Eng- 
land, dreading the combined power of France and 
Spain, did not prolong the controversy and the 
treaty of peace was signed September 3rd, 1783. 
This relinquished all of England's claim to territorv 
east of the Mississippi River and confirmed the title 
of the United States. 



32 ILLINOIS 

40. The First School in Illinois. The same year, 
1783, Samuel J. Seeley taught the first school in Illi- 
nois. It was a subscription school and each family 
was supposed to pay in proportion to the number of 
children attending. It was at New Design in what 
is now Monroe County. 

41. Claims to Illinois Surrendered. The states 
of New York, Virginia, Massachusetts and Connect- 
icut claimed the territory north of the Ohio River. 
The first had but little ground for its claim and gave 
it up in 1784. Virginia magnanimously ceded her 
clairn in 1784, with the understanding that the lands 
be sold to pay the war debts of the states. Massa- 
chusetts followed the same year and Connecticut 
ceded her claim in 1786. 

42. The Ordinance of 1787. On July 13th, 1787, 
Congress passed a measure proposed by Thomas 
Jefiferson. It was a code of laws for the government 
of the Northwest Territory, and was known as the 
Ordinance of 1787. Some of the principal provis- 
ions were : that Congress should appoint a gov- 
ernor, a secretary and three judges to administer 
the laws ; that religious freedom should be guaran- 
teed ; that within its borders neither slavery nor in- 
voluntary servitude except as a punishment for 
crime should ever exist in any of the territory ; that 
it should eventually be divided into not less than 
three states and never into more than five states, 
each of which could be admitted into the Union 
when it had sixty thousand free inhabitants. Nearly 
fifty years afterwards Daniel Webster said, "We 
are accustomed to praise the great law-givers of an- 
tiquity, we help to perpetuate the fame of Solon and 
of Lycurbus, but I doubt whether one single law. 



ILLINOIS 33 

ancient or modern, has produced effects more dis- 
tinct, marked and lasting in character than the Or- 
dinance of 1787." 

43. General Arthur St. Clair. It may be said to 
have been three years after the adoption of the Or- 
dinance of 1787 before Illinois had any government 
at all. On October 5th, 1787, General Arthur St. 
Clair was appointed Governor of the Northwest Ter- 
ritory. He spent some time in the present limits of 
Ohio and Indiana and reached Kaskaskia in 1790. 
On April 27th of the same year, he organized St. 
Clair County with Cahokia as the county seat, the 
first in the present state of Illinois. It included all 
the Illinois country south of the Illinois River and 
west of a line drawn from the mouth of Mackinaw 
Creek near the present citv of Pekin, to Fort Massac 
near the present city of Metropolis. 

44. The First M. E. Church in Illinois. Rev. 

Joseph Lillard founded the first Methodist church 
in Illinois in 1793. It was at Shiloh in the New De- 
sign settlement in Monroe County. 

45. Randolph County Organized. Randolph 
County was organized October 5th, 1795. It in- 
cluded part of St. Clair County, being all of the Illi- 
nois Country south of a line drawn due east from 
the Mississippi, through the New Design settlement 
to the Wabash River. This division was made as a 
result of a misunderstanding between two of the 
officers. One was to be judge in Randolph County, 
the other in St. Clair. 

46. The First Baptist Church in Illinois. The 
first Baptist church in Illinois was organized by 
Rev. David Badgley, at New Design, in 1796. 



34 



ILLINOIS 



47. Indiana Territory. By act of Congress, May 
7th, 1800, Ohio was cut out of the Northwest Terri- 
tory and the remainder was called Indiana Terri- 
tory. It was to be a territory of the first class, in 
which all the officers were appointed by the Gov- 
ernor. This law went into effect July 4th, 1800. 
''Saint Vincennes" (Vincennes) became the capital 
and General William H. Harrison, the hero of Tip- 
pecanoe, was appointed governor. 




Old Fort Dearborn — The Beginning: of Cliicagro 

48. Fort Dearborn Built. Almost immediately 
after the close of the Revolution, British subjects 
began to plan to annex the territory, north and west 
of the Ohio, to Quebec, and did all they could to 
create a hostile feeling between the Indians and 
American citizens. Accordingl3^ the United States 
Government thought it best to build a fort in this 
region. A spot on the eastern shore of Lake Mich- 



ILLINOIS 33 

igan was selected at first, but the Chippewas and 
the Ottawas objected. The next place chosen was 
at the mouth of the ''Chicagou River." Here Fort 
Dearborn was built in 1804. It was named in honor 
of General Henry Dearborn, who was then Secre- 
tary of War. (See 54, 55, 100.) 

49. Fort Massac. Aaron Burr. Tradition says 
that Fort Massac was built by Ferdinand DeSoto, 
the Spanish explorer, in 1542. Whether this is true, 
we know not, but it is a fact that the French occu- 
pied it as early as 1701. "Here Wilkinson, Sebas- 
tian, Powers and others, with Spanish, French and 
Creole women plotted to dismember the American 
Union, Here the gifted Aaron Burr rested, re- 
freshed himself and planned his southern expedi- 
tion ; his plot to make an empire out of the south- 
Avest and if events favored, to set himself on the 
throne of the Montezumas." (111. Hist. Library, 
Vol 8.) (See "Aaron Burr" in Elson's Side Fights 
on U. S. History.) 

50. The First Masonic Lodge in Illinois. The 
first Masonic lodge in Illinois was organized at Kas- 
kaskia, September 13th, 1806, by seven pioneers who 
were bound by the mystic tie. The name of this 
lodge was "Western Star." 

51. Illinois Territory Organized. On February 
3rd, 1809, the State of Indiana was cut out of the 
Indiana Territory and the remainder was called Illi- 
nois Territory. Kaskaskia was the capital. An old 
atlas gives the following picture of the first capitol. 

52. The First Steamboat in the West. In 1811, 
the same year as the great earthquake at New Mad- 
rid, the "New Orleans," the first steamboat west of 
the Alleghenies was built at Pittsburg and plied the 



ILLINOIS 




Capitol of Illinois Territory 

Ohio and the Mississippi for several years. Others 
were built and by 1818 a new era in navigation had 
been ushered in. The steamboat had come to stay 
and the death knell of the keel-boat had been 
sounded. 

53. New Encouragement to Immigrants. Illi- 
nois Territory was changed to the second class on 
May 21st, 1812. This gave them the right to elect 
all town and county officers. The same year Galla- 
tin, Johnson and Madison counties were organized. 
All these had a tendency to encourage immigra- 
tion and the country rapidly filled up. 

54. American Forts in Illinois. Prior to the war 
of 1812, British agents had been among the Indians 
of the Illinois Country and poisoned their minds 
against the Americans. With the declaration of war 
against England, the Indians began. The Ameri- 
cans had not been asleep but had built a line of 
forts or block houses from Alton to Kaskaskia, an- 
other from Kaskaskia to the salt works in the Wa- 
bash Valley, another along the Wabash and the 



ILLINOIS 37 

Ohio, and one — Old Fort Dearborn — near where 
Dearborn Station. Chicago, now stands. The larg- 
est and strongest of these. Camp Russel at Edwards- 
ville, was made military headquarters for Illinois. 




Fort Dearborn Monument, Chicago 

55. The Fort Dearborn Massacre. Captain 
Heald commanded a garrison of seventy men at 
Fort Dearborn and was ordered to evacuate it and 
go to Vincennes. He started, but on the next day, 
August 15th, 1812, the men with their women and 
children were attacked by overwhelming numbers 
of Indians and most of them were horribly massa- 
cred. This is known as the Dearborn Massacre. 

56. The Rangers. Colonel William Russell, of 
Kentucky, organized a regiment of rangers — Ken- 
tuckians and Illinoisans. Governor Edwards or- 
dered him to Peoria, the Indian "hot-bed." Captain 
Craig went up the Illinois River with supplies to 
co-operate with him. The latter arrived first and re- 



38 ILLINOIS 

ceived such a hot fire from the Indians that he could 
not land until Colonel Russell arrived. The In- 
dians, seeing themselves confronted by a superior 
force, fled. Captain Craig landed, burned the town, 
captured the remaining inhabitants, mostly French- 
men, and took them to Alton. (This last act was 
cruel and unnecessary.) The next year they re- 
turned to Peoria and built Fort Clark, burnt several 
Indian villages, then divided the force into three 
parts, leaving only a small garrison. One part went 
up the Illinois River and the other went among the 
Sacs and Foxes on Rock River. 

57. Battle of Campbell's Island. Lieutenant 
Campbell, with two boats, led an expedition up the 
Mississippi, in 1814, and had a deadly encounter 
with the Indians on what has since been known as 
Campbell's Island. Later in the same year. Major 
Zachary Taylor, the same man who became presi- 
dent, made a similar expedition and had an encoun- 
ter with British and Indians. Neither expedition 
was a success, but the enemy won dear victories. 

58. Muster Days. The experiences growing^ out 
of this war caused Congress to pass a law requiring 
all able-bodied men to practice military drill once 
each month. The days on which they met were 
called ''Muster days." After the officers had 
"bawled themselves hoarse" they would have a bar- 
becue, meantime they "swapped yarns" and 

"Sleights of art and feats of strength went round." 
These old-time Muster days, after they had served 
so good a purpose, degenerated into drunken brawls, 
usually ending in a free-for-all fight. When Andrew 
Jackson became President he recommended that 
musters be discontinued, and it was done. 



ILLINOIS 39 

59. The Illinois Herald. On September 6th. 
1814, Matthew Duncan published the first copy of 
the Illinois Herald. This was at Kaskaskia, and 
was the first newspaper in the state. There are now 
about two thousand. 

60. Wildcat Banks. The Bank of Shawneetown, 
the Bank of Kaskaskia and the Bank of Edwards- 
ville were chartered by the territorial legislature in 

1816. This was the beginning of ''Wildcat Bank? " 
Hitherto the settlers never had much money, though 
it must be remembered that anything of value served 
as a medium of exchange. 

61. The Cumberland Presbyterian Church. At 
Sharon, in White County, the first church of this 
denomination was organized in 1816, by Rev. James 
McGready, a descendant of one of the organizers of 
that denomination. 

62. The Covenanter Presbyterian Church. In 

1817, Rev. Samuel Wylie organized the first Cove- 
nanter Presbyterian church in the state. This was 
in a httle grove just across the K-askaskia River 
from Kaskaskia. The well respected family of 
Wylies in Randolph County are his descendants. 

_ 63. Pioneer Travel. The quarter of a centurv 
immediately preceding and as long a time following 
the admission of Illinois as a state (1818), we might 
properly call "Pioneer Days." The complete story 
of the trials and triumphs of the brave pioneers of 
those days will never be written, but not even a 
brief work would serve its purpose if it said nothing 
of them. When the Englishman, the Scotchman, 
the Frenchman, the Irishman and the Swede left the 
''Old Home," they did not come at the rate of forty 



40 



ILLINOIS 



miles an hour on a passenger train, but they came 
in boats or in a covered ("kivered") wagon drawn 
by oxen, ''way out west to lUinoy." 




A Train of Prairie Schooners 

(From Woodburn & Moran's American History, published by Long- 
mans, Green & Co., New York) 

64. The Pioneer Settlements. Those who came 
from the New England states — New York, New Jer- 
sey and Delaware — settled principally in the north- 
ern part. People of Pennsylvania, Ohio and In- 
diana settled in the central part, while people from 
Maryland, The Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee and 
Kentucky settled in the southern part. For mutual 
protection several families came together and they 
formed a settlement near some stream where timber 
and water were plentiful. Every man had an axe, 
a rifle, a frow (fro), a drawing-knife, and he soon 



ILLINOIS 41 

made a shaving-horse. Among them they would 
own one or more whipsaws. Thus equipped, they 
built^ their single-room log houses with "stick and 
clay" chimneys, their puncheon floors and their clap- 
board roofs. They made their furniture, for all the 
furniture( ?) they brought along was a skillet with 
an iron lid. The Lord sent manna from heaven to 
feed the Israelites and he was not less kind to the 
Pioneers. He filled the forest with deer which 
might be killed for food. Thus, through the help of 
Divine Providence, they had venison to eat and, 
figuratively and literally, kept the wolf from the 
door. Nor were the women and children idle while 
this was going on. They worked in the "clearino-" 
or did anything there was to do. This is the "start" 
these brave and good people had when they came 
into a region filled with wild animals and merciless 
Indian savages. 

65. Pioneer Home, Clothing, Etc. In the sum- 
mers of the earlier days the feet were not hidden, 

"In the prison cells of pride" 
for they all went barefooted. The clothing was 
made of "buckskin" and they wore "coonskin" caps 
These were their "everyday" and their "Sunday" 
clothes, too, except that occasionally the girls were 

"Decked in their homespun flax and wool" 
which they had brought from the "old home back 
east. The fashion soon changed and they grew 
their own wool and cotton, they carded it, wove it, 
spun It and, on a home-made loom, wove it into 
cloth Then it was made into clothes for all the 
^^^ J' „^^'^'^^" "Father" went to a log-rolling" 
Mother went, too, and took her "knitting" alon^ 
I he 'husking-bee" and the "apple-cutting" were 



42 ILLINOIS 

common forms of sociability and of combining bus- 
iness with pleasure. 

66. The Pioneer Church. The neighbors went 
into the forests and built the rude log church. On 
one side they put seats for the men and boys, and 
on the other they put seats for the girls and their 
mothers. The preacher was one of their number 
who worked through the week, studied his Bible at 
night and preached for two or three hours on Sun- 
day. 

"At church, with meek and unaffected grace, 
His looks adorned the venerable place; 
Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway, 
While fools who came to scoff remained to pray." 

The old ''camp-meeting," once so great a factor 
for good, is now a reality only in memory. 

67. Pioneer Schools. Smith says, "teacher was 
like the seasons; he came and he went." He took 
anything of value for tuition and "boarded round." 
Though the people 

"All declared how much he knew," 
it is evident that his scholarship, as a general thing, 
"would not pass muster" now. Here is a copy set 
by one of them, "luck at the coppy carefull." Often 
the Bible was the only reader in the school. All 
were in the same Arithmetic class. They used slates 
and home-made soapstone (talc) pencils, home-made 
ink and quill pens. If they had a blackboard it 
was nothing but a board painted black and was for 
the teacher only. 



ILLINOIS 43 

68. Thanatopsis. There were no fever ther- 
mometers and the good old mother was the family 
physician, the neighbors were the undertakers. 

"Yet e'en these bones from insult to protect, 

Some frail memorial still erected nigh, 
With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture decked. 

Implores the passing tribute of a sigh. 

Their name, their years, spelt b^'^ the unlettered muse, 

The place of fame and elegy supply. 
And many a holy text around she strews. 

That teach the rustic moralist to die." 

69. Song of the Pioneers. The following is 
taken from an atlas published in 1878 : 

"A song for the early times out west, 

And our green old forest home. 
Whose pleasant memories freshly, yet 

Across the bosom come; 
A song for the free and gladsome life, 

In those early days we led. 
With a teeming soil beneath our feet. 

And a smiling Heaven o'erhead! 
Oh! the waves of life danced merrily. 

And had a joyous flow, 
In the days when we were pioneers. 

Some fifty years ago! 
But now our course of life is short. 

And as from day to day. 
We're walking on with halting steps. 

And fainting by the way. 
Another land more bright than this. 

To our dim sight appears. 
And on our way to it we'll soon 

Again be pioneers. 
Yet while w^e linger we may all 

A backward glance still throw. 
To the days when we were pioneers, 
-^ Some fifty years ago." 




8eal of the State of Illinois 



CHAPTER IV 

A GREAT STATE AND GREAT PROBLEMS 

1818-1860 

70. The Enabling Act. On April 18th, 1818 
Congress passed what was known as the EnabHnj^ 
Act. This law provided that the boundary of Illi- 
nois should be as follows: Beginning at the mouth 
of the Wabash River ; thence up the same and with 
the line of Indiana, to the northwest corner of said 
state; thence east with the line of said state to the 
middle of Lake Michigan ; thence north along the 
middle of said Lake to north latitude 42 degrees 
and 30 minutes ; thence west to the middle of the 
Mississippi River; thence down along the middle of 
that river to its confluence with the Ohio River ; 
thence up that river along the northwestern shore 



ILLINOIS 45 

to the point of beginning. It further provided that 
when this territory had 40,000 inhabitants, the peo- 
ple were authorized to form a constitution and that 
it might become a state. Nathaniel Pope was our 
territorial delegate in Congress at the time and he 
drew up the Enabling Act, making the northern 
boundary 41 degrees 39 minutes. In that form it 
was recommended by the committee having it in 
charge, but when it was before Congress for passage 
he proposed an amendment which made it 42 de- 
grees 30 minutes north latitude. The amendment 
carried after much debating and thus it remains. 




Shadrach Bond 



71. Illinois Admitted. The American Atlas, 
published a few years later, says the population 
of Illinois in 1818 was 35,220, but by a peculiar 
manipulation of figures in taking the census, it was 
claimed that Illinois had 40,000 people. Delegates 



46 ILLINOIS 

were elected to a constitutional convention. The 
constitution was drawn up and agreed to by the del- 
egates (August 26th, 1818), but was never voted on 
by the people. An election was held for Governor, 
Lieutenant Governor, Congressman (one), and 
members of the General Assembly (State Legisla- 
ture). The Legislature met at Kaskaskia, the capi- 
tal, on October 5th, 1818, and Shadrach Bond, the 
Governor-elect, was duly inaugurated on the next 
day. John McLean had been elected to Congress 
and the Legislature elected Jesse B. Thomas and 
Ninian Edwards to the United States Senate. Mc- 
Lean, Thomas and Edwards went to Washington 
but Congress would not swear them in until it had 
approved the constitution. After strenuous opposi- 
tion, a bill approving it passed December 3rd. and 
President Monroe signed it the next day. Illinois 
thus became a state on December 4th, 1818. The 
home of a French planter was used as the capitol. 

72. A Pro-slavery Trick. The advocates of sla- 
very knew that Congress would not admit Illinois 
to the Union unless the constitution contained an 
anti-slavery clause. With this in view they inserted 
a clause providing that, "Neither slavery nor invol- 
untary servitude shall hereafter be introduced." The 
trick in the word, "hereafter," was discovered, but 
men like William H. Harrison did not believe it was 
so intended and it passed. Subsequent events con- 
firmed the views of the most pessimistic in the mat- 
ter. 

7?). Old Glory. By studying the history of our 
flag it will be seen that Congress had just adopted 
the present style of flag, i. e., thirteen stars and thir- 
teen stripes, with one star added for each state added 



ILLINOIS 47 

to the original thirteen. Illinois' star appeared in 
the flag on July 4th, 1819. 

74. Vandalia. The Black Code. In 1819, Gov- 
ernor Bond called the Legislature together and it 
passed a law locating the capital at Vandalia. It 
also passed what was known as the "Black Code." 
As the name rnight imply, it was concerning the 
negro. It provided : That a negro could not bring 
suit nor testify' in any court ; that if he were found 
ten miles from home he could be taken before a jus- 
tice" and whipped twenty-five lashes ; that un- 
less he had a certificate of freedom his services for 
one year could be sold by the sheriflF; that he might 
be sold on execution or mortgaged for his master's 
debts ; that no person could legally bring a slave to 
the state for the purpose of freeing him without giv- 
ing a bond of $1,000 guaranteeing that such slave 
would be a law-abiding and self-supporting citizen. 
The negro slave had a home and a master that would 
protect him butthe free negro was an outcast liable 
to all kinds of indignities even to being kidnapped 
and sold down the river. He therefore often made 
himself a voluntary slave to some master. 

75. Records Moved to Vandalia. In the fall of 
1820, at a cost of only twenty-five dollars, a young 
man, Sidney Breese, who later became United 
States Senator, moved the records to the new capi- 
tol, a two-story frame building at Vandalia. As an 
incident of pioneer life it might be noted that while 
Vandalia was the capital the members of the Legis- 
lature became tired of venison and wanted '"'civilized 
meat." 

76. The State Bank. Banks everywhere in the 
country were failing and times were extremely hard. 



48 ILLI^^OIS 

In order to satisfy a popular clamor, the Legislature, 
in 1820, passed a law organizing a State Bank. It 
was to be at Vandalia and to have branches at 
Brownsville, near where Miirphysboro now stands, 
at Edwardsville, at Albion and at Shawneetown. 
State Bank bills were issued to the amount of a half 
million dollars. Several of our wisest financiers 
were opposed to the state's going into the "wild cat 
bank" business, but the masses wanted it. The bills 
depreciated to thirty cents on the dollar and times 
were harder than before (except for members of the 
Legislature. That body passed a law that state offi- 
cers should be paid in this money at current value). 

77. Dueling. In 1821, Timothy Burnett was 
hanged at Belleville for killing Alonzo C. Stewart in 
a duel. This was the only legal execution for duel- 
ing in Illinois. A peculiar code of honor made duel- 
ing common in the early days and it seemed that the 
only way to stop it was to stigmatize the victor as 
a criminal as well as to make death certain for both. 

78. An Attempt to Legalize Slavery. In 1822, 
Edward Coles was elected governor. In his inau- 
gural address he advocated the repeal of the Black 
Laws, and this brought on a contest that lasted 
during his entire term. The slavery men, claiming 
no longer to be bound by the Ordinance of 1787, 
wanted to amend the constitution so as to legalize 
slavery in Illinois. Accordingly, in 1823, the Legis- 
lature, after unseating Nicholas Hansen, who op- 
posed the amendment, and seating John Shaw, who 
favored it, passed a resolution to submit to the peo- 
ple, the question of calling a convention to revise 
the constitution. Governor Coles spent his entire 
salary for four years ($4,000), fighting this measure. 



ILLINOIS 



Morris Birkbeck, a liberty-loving Englishman, Rev. 
John Mason Peck, a Yankee Baptist preacher, Hon. 
Henry Eddy, editor of the Illinois Emigrant at 
Shawneetov^n, and many others did valuabe service 
in the fight. It was voted on, August 2nd, 1824, and 




Edward Coles 

the anti-slavery men won by a majority of 1668. It 
might be added that Governor Coles, like many 
other good men, was very unpopular in his lifetime, 
but his name will long live in history as one who 
did most to prevent the legalizing of slavery in Illi- 
nois. 

79. A New Capitol. In 1824, a new capitol, a 
two-story brick structure which cost $12,381.50, was 
built to replace the one built in 1820 which had been 
destroyed by fire. 

80. Free Schools. The first law providing for a 
free school in Illinois was proposed by Joseph Dun- 
can, Representative from Jackson Count}^ It passed 



50 ILLINOIS 

on January 15th, 1825. About the same time the 
public-spirited citizens of Edwards County built a 
schoolhouse with ''real glass windows." It was the 
first of its kind in the state. 

81. Lafayette's Visit. In 1825, General Lafay- 
ette visited the state of Illinois and was received 
with great honor at Kaskaskia, at Vandalia and at 
Shawneetown. Reynolds says he was lame from a 
wound received in achieving our liberties and it 
seemed that his lameness added to his noble bearing 
as it told to the heart the story of the Revolution. 

82. The Dunkards and the Universalists. In 

1825, Rev George Wolf organized a church not far 
from the hill known as Bald Knob in Union County. 
It was dedicated to ''Religious Liberty," but was 
composed mostly of Dunkards and Universalists. 

S3. The State Bank "Whitewashed." Ninian 
Edwards, a former territorial governor, was elected 
governor in 1826. One of his first acts was to openly 
charge the management of the State Bank with 
wilful violation of the law. The Legislature "in- 
vestigated" and, as modern politicians put it, the 
whole thing was "whitewashed." One member of 
the Legislature, who was sent to Shawneetown to 
examine the bank reported that he found things in 
a flourishing condition with plenty of good whiskey 
there and sugar to sweeten it. Governor Edwards 
was what might be termed an aristocrat. He wore 
a coat trimmed in gold lace at his inaugural. 

84. Shurtleff College Organized. On New 
Year's day, 1827, Dr. John Mason Peck organized 
"The Theological Seminary and High School" at 
Rock Springs, St. Clair County. It was the first 



ILLINOIS 61 

seminary in the state. Later it was moved to Alton 
and is now Shurtleff College. 

85. The Winnebago War. The so-called AVin- 
nebago War, in 1827, is one of the most disgraceful 
things recorded on the pages of history. The Win- 
nebagoes lived near Galena and the "Palefaces," by 
hundreds, were overrunning their lands in search of 
lead. Some boatmen from Fort Snelling, in a drink- 
ing carousal with the Indians, forced their squaws 
on the boats and pulled away, not returning until 
the next day. The Indians had sobered up. and in 
their righteous indignation attacked them. Several 
on each side were killed in the fight. Sixteen hun- 
dred soldiers came to the scene. Several Indians 
were arrested, tried for murder and executed. Ye 
Gods ! talk of Helen of Troy ! Had American wom- 
anhood been thus disgraced, the United States 
would have fought the world or the offender — not 
the defender — would have been punished. 

86. McKendree College. In 1828. Rev. Peter 
Cartright organized McKendree College at Leb- 
anon, St. Clair County. It is the oldest college in 
the state, having a continuous record and among its 
products may be credited many of the leaders in our 
political, social, industrial and religious life. 

87. The Free School Law Repealed. In 1829, 
the Duncan Free School Law was repealed and a 
new one passed providing for the sale of lands which 
had been donated by Congress for the benefit of the 
public schools. The object of the sale was, not to 
help the schools, but to loan the money to the state 
and help the tottering State Bank which had been 
the spoils of politicians for so many years. 



52 



ILLINOIS 



88. A Peniteniary Built at Alton. In 1830, John 
Reynolds was elected governor. In the same year 
the Salt Works near Equality, which the United 
States had recently ceded to Illinois, were sold and 
the first penitentiary was built at Alton with the 
proceeds. 

89. The State Bank Closed. 

lost a half million dollars in ' 
ciering-," the State Bank went 
1831, its charter having expired 



After the state had 
high-handed finan- 
out of business in 




Black Hawk 



90. Black Hawk Abdicates. The Black Hawk 
War occurred in 1831-2. Several years before some 



ILLINOIS 53 

Indians of the Sac and Fox tribes, while intoxicated, 
had transferred to the United States most of the 
lands in the region of Rock River belonging to the 
tribes, reserving it until the land was sold to actual 
settlers. Black Hawk, the Sac Chief, objected on 
the ground of fraud. Now that Keokuk, a rival 
chief, had ceded all his lands east of the Mississippi, 
and that his own village had been taken while he 
was away hunting, he could no longer endure it. 
His war-like spirit was for a while appeased by an 
old friend, a fur trader at Rock Island. The people, 
who were themselves usurpers, did not feel secure! 
and called on Governor Reynolds for protection. 
Sixteen hundred soldiers were soon on the scene. 
Black Hawk and his famishing followers of men, 
women and children, crossed the Mississippi west- 
ward. On January 26th, 1832, the troops burned his 
village. Four days later he gave up all claim to Illi- 
nois soil. 

9\. The Black Hawk War. In the spring of 
1832 he started across the northwest corner of Illi- 
nois, going to his friends, the Winnebagoes, in Wis- 
consin, to beg a place to plant corn, and was or- 
dered back. He did not heed. Governor Reynolds, 
with all the pomp of an Alexander with eighteen 
hundred rnen, met him near Dixon. Here a man 
nam^d Stillman, while leading a reconnoitering 
party, met a half dozen "Braves" under a flag of 
truce and fired on them. "Black Hawk's spirit rose 
high in his bosom" at such an act. He attacked 
Stillman and killed twelve of his men, putting the 
rest^ to flight. This disgraceful scene was the real 
beginning of the war. 

92. Black Hawk Surrenders. The time of most 
of the soldiers had now expired and thev went home. 



54 ILLINOIS 

but a new army of twenty-seven hundred men was 
raised. This was in addition to General Scott's 
army of one thousand men at Fort Dearborn which 
did no service on account of the cholera. Black 
Hawk, seeing;- this formidable force arrayed asfainst 
him, fled. He was pursued and in a series of con- 
flicts more than a hundred of his men were killed. 
He finally surrendered to the Winnebag^oes and was 
turned over to the United States authorities, Au- 
g-ust 27th, and the war was over. 

93. Black Hawk's Speech. It had taken over 
seven thousand troops and had cost over a million 
dollars to put four hundred men with their starving- 
families off the land of which they had been robbed. 
The Federal Court decided that nothing but honor- 
able warfare could be charged against him and he 
was released in 1833. 

"Black Hawk is an Indian; he has done nothing of 
which an Indian need to be ashamed. He has fought the 
battles of his countrymen against^ the white men, who 
came year after year to cheat therfi and take away their 
lands. You know the cause of our making war — it is 
known to all white men — thev ought to be ashamed of it. 
The white men despise the Indians and drive them from 
their homes, but the Indians are not deceitful. The white 
men speak bad of the Indian and look at him spitefully, 
but the Indian does not tell lies. Indians do not steal. 
Black Hawk is satisfied. He will go to the world of spirits 
contented. He has done his duty. His Father will meet 
him and reward him." — Extract from a speech delivered 
by Black Hawk when he was turned over by the Winne- 
bagoes to the United States authorities. 

94. A Short Term Governor. In 1834, Governor 
Reynolds was elected to Congress and on November 
17th of that year he resigned the office of Governor, 
whereupon Acting Lieutenant Governor William 
L. D. Ewing became governor. 



ILLINOIS 55 

95. Extravagance. State Banks. Surplus Reve- 
nue. On December 3rd, 1834, Joseph Duncan was 
inaug-urated g-overnor. He advocated a free school 
system, a series of internal improvements and a state 
bank. The Legislature ignored the school question 
but the same year it passed a law to incorporate a 
company to construct the Illinois and Michigan 
canal. Then, in anticipation of securing loans from 
the government according to President Jackson's 
policy, they passed other laws organizing the State 
Bank, and to revive the defunct Bank of Illinois at 
Shawneetown. For political reasons these banks 
never got any money that was distributed to "Pet 
Banks," though in 1836 Congress divided among the 
states, the money that had accumulated in the na- 
tional treasury. Illinois received $335,000. It was 
to be added to the School Fund and is known as the 
surplus revenue. This was technically a loan but 
really a gift. The state used the money and pays 
interest on it into the school fund. 

96. The I. O. O. F. Organized. On Christmas 
day, 1835, the first lodge of the Independent Order 
of Odd Fellows in the state was organized at Alton. 
It was named Western Star Lodge. 

97. Another New Capitol. The state was be- 
ginning to need a new capitol and several cities were 
rivals with Vandalia for its location. Hoping to 
settle the matter for all time to come, the public- 
spirited citizens of Vandalia, in 1836, tore down the 
capitol that had been erected in 1824, and built a 
commodious brick structure at a cost of $16,000. 
It was used by Fayette County as a Court House 
for over eisfhtv years, but has been bought by the 
State of Illinois. 



56 



ILLINOIS 




Jjsist state House at Vandalia, (As it was) 

98. The Internal Improvement Craze. The 
people were wild on internal improvements. Gov- 
ernor Duncan awakened to the situation and strong- 
ly counselled economy, but to no avail. In 1837, the 
Legislature authorized the construction of a series 
of railroads, canals, etc., that raJsed the state debt 
from $217,276 to $6,668,784, 

99. The Murder of Lovejoy. On November 7th, 
1837, Elijah P. Lovejoy was murdered by a pro- 
slavery mob at Alton, because he published an anti- 
slavery paper. Several presses had been destroyed 
and he was defending a new one against an ex- 
cited crowd when the fatal shot was fired. Almost 
prophetic of his impending death he had said only 
a few days before, "The present excitement will soon 
be over; the voice of conscience will at last be heard 
and in some season of honest thought you will be 



ILLINOIS 



57 



compelled to say, 'He was right.' " He was the first 
to lay down his life in that awful struggle for liberty, 
and his martyrdom is spoken of as the beginning of 
the end of slavery. 




Lovejoy Monument, Alton. Illinois 

100. Chicago Incorporated. "Gone West." The 
city of Chicago was incorporated in 1837 and Wil- 
liam B. Ogden was elected the first mayor. A short 
time previous to this, the Pottowatomie band con- 
sisting of over five thousand, visited Chicago for the 
last time and found substantial buildings where the 
grass had grown for ages. This war-like band had 
already made a treaty to go west of the Missouri, 
and now fully realized that they must take up the 
lot of the exile. They engaged in a mimic war- 
dance, then silently and sadly took their departure 
for the unknown west. 



58 ILLINOIS 

101. The First Railroad in Illinois. The Great 
Northern Cross Raih-oad which had been plan- 
ned to run from Spring-field to Quincy (see 98), 
was completed from Springfield to Meredosia, a 
distance of about twenty-five miles. An engine was 
brought from Pittsburg and put on it November 8th, 
1838. This was the first in the state. 

102. The Necessity of Economy. Thomas Car- 
lin was inaugurated governor December 7th, 1838. 
He became alarmed at the financial difficulties con- 
fronting the State and, following the example of his 
illustrious predecessor, he "about-faced" and coun- 
selled economy. The Legislature now saw that they 
were right and tried as hard to save money as prev- 
ious ones had to spend it. 

103. The Great Epidemic. In the summer and 
fall of 1838, a great epidemic of chills and fever 
raged in Southern Illinois. For a period of over 
four months there was scarcely any rain. The dews 
no longer fell and the sun was mercilessly warm. 
In the meantime suflfering and death reigned su- 
preme. In going through these regions, travelers 
would often find homes in which every member of 
the family was sick. What a blessing it was that a 
stranger should be guided by Divine Providence to 
the lonely cabin to give a cup of cold water to the 
sick and the dying! It continued until after the 
great eclipse of the sun on September 18th. The 
Indians said the Great Spirit was angry and many 
others thought the Judgment Day was at hand, but 
the sun came out bright as ever and that was fol- 
lowed by a good rain. The air w^as purified and the 
pestilence vanished. 



ILLINOIS 69 

104. The Capitol Moved to Springfield. Greatly 
through the influence of Abraham Lincoln, who was 
then a Representative, the capital was moved to 
Springfield in 1839. The old Presbyterian Church 
was used as a capitol pending the completion of the 
one being built by the state. (The capitol built this 
year is now the Sangamon County Court House.) 




James G. Bimey 

105. The First Anti-slavery Candidate. In the 
presidential canvass of 1840, other things besides 
"log cabin and hard cider" were thought of. The 
martyrdom of Lovejoy had its results, the question 
of slavery was brought into national politics and 
James G. Birney, of Fulton County, became the first 
candidate for president on the Anti-slavery ticket. 

106. The State Becomes Bankrupt. Thomas 
Ford was inaugurated governor December 8th, 1842. 
The state was in deplorable shape, financially. Many 



60 ILLINOIS 

wild expenditures had been made until in 1842 the 
Bank of Illinois at Shawneetown and the State Bank 
at Spring-field became bankrupt. The state lost 
heavily in each of these and in all its speculative 
schemes. The people awakened from their delusive 
dream of munificence and splendor, found the state 
$14,000,000 in debt, its credit to such a low ebb that 
its bonds sold with difficulty at fourteen cents on 
the dollar and nothing to show for it except a rail- 
road from Meredosia to Springfield (101), which was 
afterwards sold for $100,000 in state bonds. There 
was now open talk of repudiating the state debt but 
Governor Ford took a very decided stand in favor 
of paying the whole of it w^ithout defalcation or dis- 
count. His wise counsel prevailed and the credit of 
the state was saved. 

107. The State Superintendent of Schools. In 

1844, the Legislature created the office of State Su- 
perintendent of Public Schools, but for the sake of 
economy it was provided that the Secretary of 
State should perform the duties of the office. TSee 
119.) 

108. The Mormon Trouble. The Mormons, or 
Latter Day Saints, settled at Nauvoo, in Hancock 
County, and became a power in Illinois politics. 
They secured favors from each party, Whigs and 
Democrats, until they became so strong as to main- 
tain their owm militia and to defy the authority of 
the state. Things came to a crisis in 1844 when Jo- 
seph Smith and Hyrum Smith, his brother, were ar- 
rested for counterfeiting, placed in the county jail at 
Carthage and were murdered by a mob. A reign of 
chaos followed but in 1846 the Mormons went to 
Utah and established Salt Lake Citv. There were 



ILLINOIS 61 

sixteen thousand of them, and it is said to have taken 
twelve hundred wagons. 

109. A Ruling Against Slavery. In 1845, the 
United States Supreme Court decided that the de- 
scendants of slaves brought to the state prior to the 
adoption of the Ordinance of 1787, could not be held 
as slaves. 

110. The Mexican War. On May 13th, 1846, 
President Polk called for volunteers to serve in the 
war with Mexico. The call on Illinois was for three 
thousand troops, but it was met with six thousand 




General James Shields 

(Kindness of Dr. J. F. Snyder, Virginia, Illinois) 

of our brave men who acquitted themselves cred- 
itably in every battle. They were led by that great 
statesman and soldier, General James Shields. 
''From Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma westward 
to Monterey the intrepid fighters marched, and then 



62 ILLINOIS 

across and down to Saltillo, Victoria and Tampico 
until they routed Santa Anna on the field of Buena 
Vista. In the south of Mexico the conquerino^ host 
mowed a swath of glory from Vera Cruz until they 
reached the heart and center and camped within the 
capital of Mexico." 

111. General James Shields. When the Mexican 
War was over, General Shields came back to Kas- 
kaskia and was elected to the United States Senate. 
After he completed his term he moved to Minnesota 
and was honored by that state with the same office. 
He then went to California, enlisted in the Civil 
War, and, with the rank of Brig^adier General, was 
assi.gned to the Army of the Potomac. After the 
Civil W^ar was over he went to Missouri and was 
elected to the United States Senate. When his term 
of office expired, he went to Iowa where he died. 

112. Some New Problems. Augustus C. French 
was inaugurated governor on December 9th, 1846. 
There were so many problems before him for solu- 
tion that it would have frightened the faint-hearted. 
The Mexican War was in progress. The state had 
outgrown the old constitution and chang^ed condi- 
tions made a new one necessary. The internal im- 
provement question, which had agitated the minds 
of the people for so many years, was up for settle- 
ment and the failures of the past had made it ex- 
tremely difficult to do anything- now. Each of these 
questions were met face to face and solved in course 
of time, much to the credit of those who did it. 

113. Wisconsin Versus Illinois. Wisconsin was 
admitted to the Union in 1848. This is worthy of 
note in Illinois history, because the former state 



ILLINOIS 



63 



tried to gain back the strip of territory which had 
been added to the latter in 1818. 

114. The I. and M. Canal. The G. & C. U. Ry. 

Co. In 1848, the Illinois and Michigan Canal was 
completed. It had been under consideration for 
twent3^-five years and work had been carried on at 
intervals for twelve years. The United States had 
given each odd-numbered section in a strip of land 
ten miles in width along its entire length to aid in 
its construction, and it had cost the state over $5,- 
000,000, but after all, it paid and has since been 
deepened until water flows through it from Lake 
Michigan down the Illinois River. It is now the 
Chicago Drainage Canal. This same year a rail- 
road was built from Chicago, ten miles westward, 
by the Galena & Chicago Union Railway Companv. 
This was the beginning of the great Chicago '&: 
Northwestern Railway System. 




The Pioneer — First Locomotive in Chicago 

(Kindness of M. J. Clay, Chicago, Illinois) 

115. A New Constitution. By a vote of the peo- 
ple, a new constitution was adopted March 6th, 1848. 
It contained a clause prohibiting slavery and was the 



64 TLLIXOTS 

first state constitution to prohibit imprisonment for 
debt. It also provided that an election for state offi- 
cers should be held that year. Since Governor 
French had thereby been legislated out of two years 
of his term, he was given a second term practically 
without opposition. On January 8th, 1849, he was 
inaugurated the second time. 

116. The Flatheads and the Regulators. The 
trouble between the Flatheads and the Regulators, 
or what is sometimes called the "Carnival of Crime," 
was carried on in Massac and adjoining counties in 
the forties. In the early days most of the immi- 
grants to Southern Illinois came across or down the 
Ohio River. That region then became the chosen 
location of a band of outlaws, for there they could 
easily trade or sell to the unsuspecting immigrant, 
stolen horses or buy goods of them, paying therefor 
counterfeit money or forged warrants on the State 
Treasury. They made it a business also to kidnap 
free negroes, take them South and sell them into 
bondage. These outlaws became so strong as to 
control elections and the courts. If people inter- 
fered, their property was destroyed and sometimes 
they themselves were killed. The law abiding citi- 
zens organized the "Regulators" and the outlaws 
were given the name "Flatheads." Finally, in 1849, 
through the influence of Ex-Governor Reynolds, 
who was again in the legislature, a law was passed 
whereby persons accused of crime could be taken to 
adjoining counties for trial. This, with other legis- 
lation, restored order. 

117. A Land Gift for Railroads. In 1850, Con- 
gress gave to the State every odd-numbered section 

of land in a strip twelve miles wide extending from 



ILLINOIS *»^ 

Cairo to LaSalle, from LaSalle to Chicas^o and from 
I a^alle to Galena, this land to be used by the state 
in any wav it chose for the construction of a rail- 
road There was a provision that where any of this 
land had been entered or purchased of the govern- 
ment the state should chose other land m its stead. 
The United States reserved the use of the nght-ot- 
way for the transportation of its armies and imple- 
ments of war in time of war. 

118 Five Important Laws. In 1851, five im- 
portant laws were passed : a law authonzmo: coun- 
ties "to adopt township organization, a law author- 
izino- the establishment of private banks, a law put- 
tinc^ restrictions on the sale of liquors, a law pro- 
vidhio- for homestead exemption and a law a^^thor- 
izino-^he construction of the Illinois Central Rail- 
road. 

119. Negro Immigration. State Supt. of Schools. 
Toel A. Matteson was inaug-urated s^overnor Tanuary 
9th 1853. The next year a law was passed "to pre- 
vent the immio-ration of free ne2:roes." and another 
one also which created the ofifice of State Suoerin- 
tendent of Public Instruction as a separate otiice. 
Ninian W. Edwards, son of Ninian Edwards, was 
appointed to fill this ofifice. (See 107.) 

120. Free Schools. Teachers' Examinations. 

In 1855 a law was passed which ^ives us the basis 
of our present free school system. Among other 
things it required teachers to pass an examination 
in reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, and geog- 
raphy. Strange as it mav seem to us now, the peo- 
ple thought these requirements too severe and thcv 
were repealed two years later. 



66 



ILLINOIS 



121. The Republican Party. In 1856, the Re- 
publican party was oi\c^anized. The anti-slavery 
people of Illinois were active \n this party and put 
in the field an entire state ticket which was elected, 
though James Buchanan carried the state for presi- 
dent. 




T.oromotive used by the I. C. R. R. Co. in 1856 



122. The Illinois Central Railroad. The Illinois 
Central Railroad was completed in 1856. To en- 
courage and help the Illinois Central Railroad Com- 
pany to build it, the state had granted all the land 
given by the government for that purpose (117). 
There is a popular opinion that the Illinois Central 
Railroad Company pays no tax, but in lieu thereof 
pays to the state seven per cent of the gross earn- 
ings. Here are the facts as taken from their charter : 
it pays no tax except to the state. It must pay five 
per cent of the g-ross earnings and a state tax not to 
exceed three-fourths of one per cent of the valuation 
of all the assets, provided that if these do not equal 
seven per cent of the gross receipts, the said Com- 



ILLINOIS 



67 



pany must also pay the difference to the state. It 
will thus be seen that the state is entitled to the 
alternative that will bring the most money into the 
state treasury. Much censure was heaped upon the 
legislature for giving all this land to a corporation, 
but it was a wise move, financially and otherwise. 
Land through which the road ran was offered in 
1851 at $1.25 per acre with no buyer. In 1856. the 
same land sold at from $2.50 to $5.00 per acre. The 
money received by the state was applied to its in- 
terest-bearing obligations and in course of time the 
immense debt of the state was paid (140). The 
above conditions concerning taxes applied only to 
the original lines and not to lines which have been 
bought or leased since. 




Illinois State Normal University, Xormal 

123. State Normal. School Tax. Penitentiary. 
William H. Bissell was inaugurated governor Jan- 



68 ILLINOIS 

uary 12th, 1857. This same year three important 
laws were passed. One provided for the establish- 
ment of a State Normal University, which was lo- 
cated at Normal. Another provided that people of 
any school district conld vote a tax for school pur- 
poses not to exceed two per cent, in addition to the 
tax authorized by the law of 1855. The last one au- 
thorized the building- of the penitentiary at Joliet. 

124. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates. In 1858, 
Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas became 
candidates for the LTnited States Senate. It would 
be decided by the legislature, many of the members 
of which were to be elected that fall. Lincoln chal- 
lenged Douglas to a series of debates. The chal- 
lenge was accepted and they debated at Ottawa. 
Freeport, Jonesboro, Charleston, Galesburg, Quincy 
and Alton. Against the protest of his friends, Lin- 
coln asked Douglas if he favored popular sover- 
eignty. The latter answered in the affirmative. 
Lincoln had said, ''This may lead to my own defeat, 
but it will keep Douglas from ever being president." 
(Can it be that Lincoln foresaw that this ans^ver 
would split the Democratic party and open up the 
way for the ultimate success of his own party ?"> 
The Republican ticket received the majority, but by 
reason of an unfair apportionment the Democrats 
had 54 in the General Assembly and the Republicans 
only 46. Douglas won, but Lincoln's sound logic 
and foresightedness made him the successful candi- 
date for president two years later. This debate is 
sometimes spoken of as "The Battle of the Giants," 
and was probably the greatest event of its kind in 
the Nineteenth Century. 

125. Ex-Governor Matteson in Trouble. An 
event of which we are not proud now requires our 



ILLINOIS 69 

attention. In 1859, it was discovered that Ex-Gov- 
ernor Joel A. Matteson had defrauded the state out 
of about $250,000. His property v^as seized by the 
state and it thus regained most of the money. He 
w^as never prosecuted, but his latter days v^ere days 
of sorrow and regret, and he died without money or 
friends. 

126. A Short-Term Governor. On March 8th, 
1860, Governor Bissell died and Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor John Wood became governor. 

127. The "Underground Railway." From early 
days in Illinois, slaves from the South fled north- 
ward and were pursued by the slave catcher. While 
those who sympathized with slavery assisted the 
pursuers, the anti-slavery men helped the slave in 
his flight toward Cana^da and for that purpose con- 
ducted what has been known as the underground 
railway. It was a violation of the law, but they felt 
that unfair means had been brought to bear in the 
elections and in the courts and that the slave-catcher 
and kidnapper were daily violating the law in their 
inhuman traflic. Thus they felt justified in appeal- 
ing to a "higher law." 

128. "The Underground Railway." The south- 
ern terminus of one of these routes was on the Ohio, 
near Metropolis, another was at Chester, another at 
Alton, and a fourth one at Quincy. They came to- 
gether near LaSalle. Here the negroes either hired 
out among the farmers or made their way to Lake 
Michigan and got aboard a steamer, where they 
were purposely not discovered until they reached 
a British port, then, with great show of indignation, 
they were put ofif. By this plan hundreds of negro 



70 ILLINOIS 

men, women and children were taken from slavery 
to freedom. 

129. "The Underground Railway." "The en- 
g"ineers. conductors, brakemen and station assents 
upon these lines were God-fearing- men, who had the 
courage of their convictions, and, if occasion re- 
quired, did not hesitate, when on duty, to use force 
to protect their passengers from the interference of 
slave owners and slave catchers, whom they loathed 
and despised." 



CHAPTER V 

1860-1920 

130. Abraham Lincoln. On May 16th, 1860, the 
National Republican Convention met at the Wig"- 
wam in Chicago and nominated Abraham Lincoln 
for president." He was elected over Stephen A. 
Douglas, his closest rival, the following November 
and for the next five years— during the trying years 
of the Great Rebellion — the history of Illinois be- 
comes an important part of that of the Nation. 
"Not without thy wondrous story, 

lUinois. lUinois. 
Can be writ the Nation's glory, 
Illinois, Illinois. 




Richard Vates. Sr. 



131. "We Are Coming, Father Abraham." Rich- 
ard Yates, the "War Governor," was inaugurated 
January 14th, 1861. We were now enterins^ into a 



72 ILLINOIS 

great conflict. On April 14th Fort Sumpier was 
fired en by the Confederates and the Civil War had 
begum The next day President Lincoln called on 
each loyal state for troops and the men from evenr 
hill and dale in Illinois responded, '*\Ve are coming. 
Father Abraham.'* Acting under instructions from 
the War Department. Governor Yates ordered Cairo 
to be fortified, then removed thirtv- thousand mus- 




kets, a number of cannon and a lot of other supplies 
from the United States arsenal at St, Louis, at that 
time a secession hot-bed, and without orders tele- 
graphed the troops at Cairo to capture two boats of 
supplies that the Rebels were taking down the river. 

132. "Either Patriots or Traitors." When the 



ILLIXOIS 73 

clouds of war fell like a pall over the land. Stephen 
A. Douglas was patriotic enough, like Jonathan of 
old, to rise above blasted hopes and disappoint- 
ments, above partisanship and prejudice, to help his 
successful rival and he came out for the Union, de- 
claring : "There can be no neutrals in this war : 
either patriots or traitors." Some who had voted 
for Douglas ("Douglas Democrats") remained Dem- 
ocrats and came out for the Union. A few who 
were secessionists at heart voted with the Demo- 
crats but did all in their power to further the inter- 
ests of the secessionists, generally joining such an 
organization as the Knights of the Golden Circle, a 
band of organized traitors. Still many of them be- 
came "Lincoln Republicans" (nicknamed "Black 
Republicans" because they were opposed to the ex- 
tension of slavery I and were loyal to the Union. 
The author's father voted for Douglas and became 
a Republican, and more than once did the Knights 
of the Golden Circle attempt to take his life. 

133. General John A. Logan. John A. Logan 
was in Congress when the war broke out. but he re- 
signed his office, went back to Southern Illinois, 
and. in defiance of opposition, made speeches for the 
I'nion in localities where it was unsafe for it to be 
known that he was not in favor of secession. He 
did more than any other one man to save Southern 
Illinois for the L'nion. He started from Cairo as 
Colonel, fought in more than a hundred battles and 
bv dauntless courage won the rank oi Major Gen- 
eral. He later served his state in Congress and the 
United States Senate and was the candidate of the 
Republican party for A-ice president in 1884. He 



74 



ILLINOIS 



stands without a peer as a soldier, as a statesman 
and as a man. 




General John A. Logan 

134. General Ulysses S. Grant. When Presi- 
dent Lincoln called for volunteers, Ulysses S. Grant 
volunteered to serve the country in any capacity 
and soon demonstrated his ability as a military 
leader, inscribing- on his banners such victories as 
Donelson, Shiloh, luka, Corinth and Vicksburg. 
By act of Congress he was then made Lieutenant 
General. This office was created that he might be 
placed in command of all the armies of the United 
States. He at once took command of the Army of 
the Potomac in person because he wanted to fight 
General Robert E. Lee, the ablest Confederate gen- 



ILLINOIS 



75 



eral. The world knows the trag^ic story of the cap- 
ture of General Lee's army after four long, bloody 
years. After the war was over. Grant served two 
terms as President of the United States. 




General Ulysses S. Grant 

135. Our Patriotic Songs. More than two cen- 
turies ago, Andrew Fletcher said, "Give me the 
making of the ballads and I care not who makes the 
laws of a nation." That his logic is correct was 
never better demonstrated than in the Civil War, 
but he might have added, 'T care not who fights the 
battles." The patriotic songs: "Kingdom Coming," 
"Brave Boys Are They," and "Marching Through 
Georgia," were all written by Henry Clay Work of 
Illinois, and "Just Before the Battle. Mother," 



76 ILLINOIS 

''Tramp, Tramp, Tramp," and "The Battle Cry of 
Freedom/' were written by G. F. Root of Illinois. 
If the battle went ill or well, when the soldier heard 
these patriotic melodies his heart rose high in his 
bosom and he was eager to renew the conflict. 

136. Governor Yates and the Legislature. In 

1863, the Legislature expressed itself decidedly 
against the Union and Governor Yates adjourned 
it against its will. This reminds us of Oliver Crom- 
well's dissolving the Long Parliament more than 
two hundred years before. The war dragged miser- 
ably on while the patriot mothers — bless their sacred 
memory — bore the burdens at home. 

137. God Accepted the Sacrifice. On January 
16th, 1865, General Richard J. Oglesby was inau- 
gurated governor. On February 1st, of the same 
year, President Lincoln signed the Thirteenth 
Amendment. The fact was telegraphed to Governor 
Oglesby, transmitted to the General Assembly and 
adopted all in the same day. A few days later the 
Black Laws (74) were repealed. The war ended 
April 9th with the surrender of Lee's army and Lin- 
coln was assassinated April 14th. Thus ends the 
story of slavery, so full of sadness yet so full of 
glory. Illinois had furnished Abraham Lincoln, the 
Martyr President ; Ulysses S. Grant, one of the 
greatest military strategists of modern times ; John 
A. Logan, the greatest volunteer soldier the world 
ever knew ; and 259,000 of her gallant "men behind 
the guns," who carried their blood-stained banner 
through the very region that cradled and nurtured 
and from whence sallied forth on its mission of 
crime, misery and blood, the disturbing and disor- 
ganizing spirit of secession and rebellion. The blood 



ILLINOIS 



77 



and tears of our bravest and best had been offered 
to pay for the Nation's sins and God had accepted 
the sacrifice. 

"Ah! never shall the land forget 

How gushed the life blood of her brave 

Gushed warm with hope and courage yet 
Upon the soil they fought to save." 




(ieneral Kirhard J. Oglesby 

138. English Prophecy Disproved. Eno-land 
was much in sympathy with the South, and. Avhen 
it was, evident that the Union would be preserved, 
prophesied that such a vast army could never be dis-' 
banded peaceably as each soldier, practiced to the 
arts of war and' unused to peace, would become 
practically an outlaw, but he returned to the aban- 
doned office or shop or farm when the war was over, 
''And quietly took up the broken ends of love and 
hfe as best he could, a better citizen for having- been 
so g-ood a soldier." 



78 ILLINOIS 

139. The Grand Army of the Republic. To. Dr. 

B. F. Stephenson, who had served the country as 
surg-eon of the 14th Illinois Infantry during the 
Civil ^Var, is due the honor of ori^-inating the 
Grand Army of the Republic, he having- organized 
Post No. 1 at Decatur. Illinois, April 6th, the fourth 
anniversarv of the battle of Shiloh. 




Engrineerinjf Hall, I'niversity of Illinois 

140. The University of Illinois. In 1867, a law 
was passed which established the State University 
at Urbana. The expense of building it was greatly 
offset by a gift of 480,000 acres of land which the 
government gave to the state for that purpose. 

141. State Capitals, State Capitols. On October 
5th, 1868, the corner stone of tlie new State Capitol 
was laid. It took twenty years to complete it and 
cost nearly five million dollars, but it is one of the 
finest in the United States. (Briefly reviewing: the 



ILLINOIS 



79 



Territory of Illinois had one capitol. thoiio^h it never 
owned it ; the State of Illinois has had three capital 
cities — Kaskaskia, Vandalia and Springfield, and 
seven capitol buildings, five of which it owned. 
See 71, 75, 79,97, 104.)^ 




Present i*tate Capitol 



142. Our Third Constitution. General John M. 
Palmer was inaugurated governor on January 11th, 
1869. and on July 2nd of the next year our third state 
constitution was adopted. Among many other good 
features, it contained a provision prohibiting the 
state or any political division thereof from giving aid 



80 



ILLINOIS 



to any private enterprise and another providing- for 
minority representation. 

143. The Southern IUinois,.Normal. In the year 
1870, the Le^^islature passed alaw to establish the 
Southern Illinois Normal University. After a spir- 
ited contest among different cities of southern Illi- 
nois it was linallv located at Carbondale and its 
doors were opened four years later. 




Southern Illinois Normal University, Carbondale 

144. The Chicago Fire. On October 8th and 
9th. 1871, the great Chicago fire occurred. It cov- 
ered an area of 2200 acres — burning nearlv 16.000 
buildings with a total valuation of $200,000,000. 
The death roll was over 300 and 200,000 were ren 
dered homeless. Insurance for about $100,000,000 
was carried by 201 companies : 68 of these compan- 



ILLINOIS 81 

ies were forced into liquidation and only about half 
the insurance was ever collected. From the ruins of 
the old wooden city a ''New Chicag^o" immediatelv 
sprang^ up that has been the wonder of the world. 
It is said that the fire was caused by a cow's kick- 
ing a lantern over. It may seem strange if we say 
that the smoke was seen over the entire state. 

145. Two Promotions. General Richard J. Og- 
lesby was again inaugurated governor on January 
13th, 1873. Eight days later he was elected to the 
United States Senate. He resigned the governor- 
ship and Lieutenant Governor John L. Beveridge 
became governor. 

146. Out of Debt. Two More Promotions. 

Shelby M. Cullom w^as inaugurated governor on 
January 8th, 1877. During this administration the 
last burdensome dollar of state indebtedness, which 
at one time amounted to $16,000,000, was paid and 
Illinois alone of all the states was out of debt until 
Governor Altgeld's administration. Governor Cul- 
lom was re-elected in 1880 and re-inaugurated lan- 
uary 10th, 1881. He was elected to the United 
States Senate in 1883 and Lieutenant Governor John 
M. Hamilton succeeded to the governor's office*. 

147. The Haymarket Riot. General Richard J. 
Oglesby was for the third time inaugurated gov- 
ernor on January 13th, 1885. On May 4th, 1886, a 
mob collected on Haymarket 'Square, Chicago, and 
when the police approached seven of the latter were 
killed by the explosion of a bomb thrown among 
them. Eight men were tried for this crime, four of 
whom were hanged and three were sent to the pen- 
itentiary. The other committed suicide. 



82 ILLINOIS 

148. The Chicago Drainage Canal. Joseph W. 
Fifer, popularly called "Private Joe," was inaugur- 
ated governor on January 14th, 1889. This year a 
law^ was passed for the construction of the Chicago 
Drainage Canal. It was to be along the route of the 
Illinois and Michigan Canal and was to be deep 
enough to allow the water to flow from Lake Miclii- 
gan into the Illinois River. (See 95, 174.) 

149. The Last of Old Kaskaskia. The Mississ- 
ippi River had a number of times overflowed its 
banks and was changing its course in the region of 
Old Kaskaskia to such an extent that the site of 
that once proud metropolis of the Mississippi Valley 
had almost disappeared and the graves of those who 
had lived there in the early days of Illinois seemed 
soon to be washed away. In 1892 the Legislature 
appropriated v$10,000 for the purpose of removing 
the remains from the cemetery to one to be selected 
on higher ground. On account of objections raised 
by their descendants, the graves of a few were left 
to be washed away, but there were probably more 
than 2,000 removed to "Garrison Hill," a beautiful 
site overlooking the Mississippi as it flows placidly 
over the old. The exact number will never be 
known, as the Mississippi had broken in and badly 
mixed some of the graves and part of the removal 
was of necessity a "wholesale" afifair, however, the 
work was done with much credit to all concerned. 
In the new cemetery on Garrison Hill stands a beau- 
tiful monument bearing this inscription : 



ILLINOIS 



Those who sleep here were first buried at 
Kaskaskia, and afterwards removed to this 
cemetery. They were the early pioneers of 
the great iV'is>issippi Valley. They planted 
free institutions in a wilderness and were the 
founders of a great commonwealth. In mem- 
ory of their service, Illinois gratefully erects 

this monument. 

1892 



The original site of town and cemetery is now 
entirely covered by the Mississippi River, but as we 
view this "City of the Dead" our minds wander back 
more than two centuries to the time when the peo- 
ple of Kaskaskia laid the foundation of the "Grand 
Old Commonwealth of Illinois." 

150. The World's Columbian Exposition. John 
P. Altgeld, the Democratic nominee, was inaugu- 
rated governor in January, 1893. During this year 
the World's Columbian Exposition was held in Chi- 
cago. It was to celebrate the four-hundredth anni- 
versary of the discovery of America. It was the 
greatest thing of its kind ever undertaken, well, 
planned and carried out in a manner that reflected 
great credit on the city of Chicago, the State of Illi- 
nois, and to the whole country. 

151. The Haymarket Rioters Pardoned. On 
June 26th, 1893, Governor Altgeld pardoned the 
three Haymarket rioters that were in the peniten- 
tiary. This at once made him very unpopular and 
a storm of criticism arose all over the state. He 
was dubbed by his enemies as "The Anarchist Gov- 
ernor." The Author did not agree with him in pol- 



84 



ILLINOIS 



itics, and more or less joined in the criticism, but 
asks now for a more charitable judgment of the 
Governor's acts. The Governor contended that 
these men did not have a fair trial, andthat may be 
true, for even in this twentieth century people are 
sometimes punished to make a record for an un- 
scrupulous prosecutor or to shield some other per- 
son who is "more guilty" or ''most guilty." 

152. Strike of the American Railway Union. In 
1894 the American Railway Union went out on a 
strike in the city of Chicago. Chaos reigned until 
President Cleveland ordered Federal troops to the 
scene to preserve order. Governor Altgeld took 
ofifense at this alleged usurpation of authority, but 
he finally ordered out state troops to take their 
places. 




Eastern Illinois Normal, Charleston 



ILLINOIS 



85 



153. Two New Normal Schools. The Leg^isla- 
ture passed laws in 1875 creating two new normal 
schools. One is located at Charleston and is known 
as "The Eastern Illinois Normal," the other is at 
DeKalb and is called ''The Northern Illinois Normal 
School." In completing the history of Governor 
Altgeld's administration, one thing, at least, must 




Northern Illinois Normal, DeKalb 

be said to his credit, i. e., that he believed in sub- 
stantial buildings and to such an extent did he en- 
force his opinions on the architects, that the build- 
ings erected by the State stand as monuments to 
what is know^n as Altgeld architecture. 

154. The Western Illinois Normal John R. 



as 



ILLINOIS 



Tanner was inaug-urated governor January, 1897. 
This year the Legislature passed a law to establish 
''The Western Illinois Normal School." It is lo- 
cated at Macomb. 




- "' ' Western Illinois Normal, Mat'omb 

155. The Spanish-American War. In 1898. the 
Spanish-American War was fought. Governor Tan- 
ner promptly offered the service of the State Militia 
and within three days the entire eight regiments 
were ready for the fra}^ Several other regiments 
were organized and were anxious for a fight, but the 
services of only one more regiment was needed. 

156. The Farmers' Institute. "Dark Horses." 
Richard Yates, son of the "War Governor," was in- 
augurated governor January 8th, 1901. This same 



ILLINOIS 87 

year a law was passed providing for Farmers' Insti- 
tutes. This law has already proven a great help 
to the farmers of the State and the wisdom of those 
who favored it can no longer be questioned. The 
campaign for governor in 1904 was quite exciting. 
Seven avowed candidates were in the field for the 
nomination on the republican ticket and there were 
several so-called ''dark horses." The State Conven- 
tion lasted nearly a month. Finally, Charles S. De- 
neen, of Chicago, was nominated and he was elected 
over Hon. Lawrence Stringer, the democratic nom- 
inee. 

157. Primary Election Laws. Charles S. De- 
neen was inaugurated governor January 9th, 1905. 
That year a Primary Election law was passed, but 
the next year the Supreme Court declared it uncon- 
stitutional. Governor Deneen then called the Leg- 
islature together in special session and a new one 
was passed. 

158. A Local Option Law. In 1907 the Legis- 
lature passed a Local Option Law which provides 
that the people of any city, township or county may 
vote on the question of licensing the saloon. As a 
result of this the liquor traffic has been greatly re- 
duced. 

159. More About Primary Election Laws. In 

1908, the Legislature repealed the Primary Election 
Law then on the statute books, and passed another^ 
but the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutionaL 
This was another campaign year. The republicans, 
nominated Governor Deneen to make the race again^ 
and the democrats offered that deservedly popular 
man, Adlai E. Stevenson, of Bloomington, who had 
honored the State by serving as vice president of the 



88 



ILLINOIS 



United States from 1893 to 1897. This "battle of 
the ballots" was foug-ht along- political lines and the 
former was re-elected. 




AdLai E. Stevenson 

160. The Springfield Riot. On August 14th, 
1908, a race riot broke out in Springfield, almost 
under the shadow of the monument of the immortal 
Lincoln, and for nearly two days, in fact until four 
reg"iments of militia were on the scene, lawlessness 
reigned supreme. Seven people were killed and 
more than fifty wounded, while property valued at 
more than $100,000 was destroyed. The next year. 
Miss Anna Pelley, of Anna, was murdered by a 



ILLINOIS 89 

ne^g^ro at Cairo. He was arrested and put in jail, but 
it became known that a crowd was being- organized 
to resort to "lynch law," and the sheriff tried to 
escape with him, but was headed off near Dongola. 
The negro was taken back and hanged in the heart 
of the city. Miss Pelley was buried at her home and 
the public spirited citizens of Anna and Cairo erect- 
ed a beautiful monument to her memory. Mob law 
is wrong-, but back of it all is the fact that the poli- 
ticians catered for the nogro vote and did not en- 
force the laws against them. 

161. A House Divided Against Itself. Governor 
Charles S. Deneen was a candidate for re-election 
in 1912. A faction of the republicans went to the 
newly organized American Progressive Party, 
("Bull Moose Party") and nominated Hon. Frank 
H. Funk. The democrats nominated Hon. Edward 
F. Dunne. After a spirited contest, the last on the 
list was elected, and he was inaugurated Februarv 
3rd, 1913. 

162. Woman Suffrage in Illinois. In 1913, after 
a spirited fight, the General Assembly passed a law 
granting woman suffrage. The State Constitution, 
however, provides that on certain subjects and for 
certain officials only men can vote. The 19th Amend- 
ment to the Constitution of the United States su- 
percedes the Constitution of Illinois. (See 168.) 

163. Civil Adm. Code. The War. At the elec- 
tion in November, 1916, the choice for governor fell 
to former Congressman, Frank O. Lowden, who 
was the republican candidate. He was inaugurated 
in January. 1917. On his recommendation the Gen- 
eral Assembly passed a law known as the Civil Ad- 
ministrative Code which combined much of the bus- 



90 ILLINOIS 

iness of the State into nine departments, thus doing 
away with much of the cumbersome and conflicting 
work of different boards, commissions, etc. TSee 
Illinois Blue Book, 1916-17.) On April 6th, of this 
year, the Congress of the United States declared 
war on Germany. In a manner that could not be 
misunderstood, Governor Lowden expressed a sen- 
timent of loyalty and patriotism that was worthy of 
our great traditions and it was the sentiment of Illi- 
nois, for Illinois was ready to bear her full share of 
the burden. 

164. The East St. Louis Riot. Durins: the spring 
of 1917 an unusual number of colored laborers were 
attracted to East St. Louis by the high wages of- 
fered and it led to friction between the employers 
and the unions. Trouble ensued. On May 29th 
several persons were injured and on July 2nd, one 
of the most disgraceful riots in the history of the 
United States broke out. Almost a hundred people 
were killed. Thousands of colored people were 
driven from the city regardless of condition or cir- 
cumstances and property valued at more than half 
a million dollars was destroyed. The local authori- 
ties were unable or unwilling to cope with the sit- 
uation and even the militia failed to restore order 
for more than twenty-four hours after their arrival. 
As a result of this, some were persecuted and others 
prosecuted. Either justly or unjustly, eighteen per- 
sons were sent to the penitentiary. 

165. The Illinois Centennial. On December 3rd, 
1918, Illinois had been admitted as a state in the 
Union one hundred years. In commemoration of 
that fact, a great state-wide celebration was held. 
Monuments and even buildings were erected to 



ILLINOIS 91 

perpetuate the memory of great things accorn- 
pHshed and to hand down to future generations in 
some form or another, the story of the brave pion- 
eers and others who sacrificed all, took a wilderness 
and gave to the world the State of Illinois. 

166. Victory. On November 11th, 1918, the 
World War closed with a series of brilliant achieve- 
ments. The world will never forget how our boys 
''over there" brought victory to the Allied cause, 
even though at tremendous cost of blood and treas- 
ure. Again we are reminded of the following from 
Pericles' Funeral Oration, ''The whole earth is a 
sepulchre of famous men ; not only are they com- 
memorated by columns and inscriptions in their own 
country but in foreign lands; there dwells also an 
unwritten memorial of them graven, not in stone, 
but in the hearts of men." Illinois, as one of the 
great commonwealths of the Union, is proud to have 
borne so noble a part. Heroic souls — men, women, 
and children alike, responded, raising war gardens, 
tilling the soil, working in factories, lending money 
to the Government, and giving freely to every pa- 
triotic cause, but that is not all: Illinois gave 
over 351,000 of her brave sons, who, like the "war 
horses that paweth in the valley," were ready for 
any effort or sacrifice that might be the price of 
victory. 

167. Dry America. After twenty-six other 
states had ratified the Eighteenth Amendment to 
the Constitution of the United States, the Les^isla- 
ture of Illinois ratified it on January 14th, 1919. It 
was later ratified by more than the number required 
and is now a part of the Constitution. It makes it 



92 ILLIXOIS 

unlawful to manufacture or to sell intoxicating liq- 
uors in the United States. 

168. Woman Suffrage. The Nineteenth Amend- 
ment which granted Woman Suffrage became a part 
of the Constitution of the United States in 1920. 
Illinois ratified it June 10th, 1918, and it is worthy 
of note that Illinois was the first to do so. Tennes- 
see was the thirty-sixth, the number required. 



\. 




Map of 

ILLIIIOIS 

with 

COUllTY LINES 

1818 - 1918. 



CHAPTER VI 

SOMEWHAT GEOGRAPHICAL 

By thy rivers gently flowing, Illinois, Illinois, 
O'er thy prairies gently growing, Illinois, Illinois, 

Comes an echo on the breeze, 

Rustling through the leafy trees, 
And its mellow tones are these — Illinois. Illinois, 
And its mellow tones are these, Illinois. 

170. Where Illinois Stands. The len^^th of Illi- 
nois is 388 miles. It has an area of 56,000 square 
miles and contains over 6,000,000 people. It ranks 
third among- the states of the Union in the produc- 
tion of manufactured goods and of iron and steel 
products ; second in the production of coal ; first in 
farm products. It contains more miles of railroad 
than any other state. In the manufacture of watches, 
farm implements, railroad cars and packed meats it 
leads the world. 

171. Possibilities. There is now strong proba- 
bility that the Chicago Drainage Canal, the Illinois 
River and the Mississippi River will be converted 
into a deep waterway connecting the Lakes with the 
Gulf. The materialization of this enterprise would 
make a seaport of every town along these rivers. 
There can be no reasonable conclusion reached as to 
the vast possibilities opening up before us. 

IN CONCLUSION 

172. Women of Illinois. Attempting to give 
only the important facts we have now traced the his- 
tory of the great state of Illinois from its discovery 
by Marquette and Joliet to the present, telling of 
many brave deeds and brilliant achievements of the 
men of Illinois with but few references to the women 



ILLINOIS 95 

of Illinois, and, without any desire to detract from 
the glory due the men, we wish here to direct atten- 
tion to the sainted old mother who, out of un- 
bounded love, read the Bible, the best of classics, to 
her sons and daughters, teaching them by precept 
and practice to imitate that "Perfect Model" of love 
and faith and duty. ''Be a good boy, is what she 
says to the little fellow each day as he starts to 
school. Be a good boy, is what she says to the 
youth as he leaves for college. Be a good boy is 
still her sacred charge, when, standing at the gate, 
she gives him her blessing as he goes out into the 
world." 

173. The Teacher. Nor would we forget the 
good and faithful teacher in the little school house 
on the hill, who takes the little urchins from a var- 
iety of homes, teaching them how to be useful citi- 
zens, often quelling miniature rebellions, giving 
them stories of loyalty and patriotism, instilling in 
them a reverence for our forefathers and a love for 
our country's flag and all it represents. 

174. Patriots — All. When the Civil War broke 
out, no less did the "Woman of Illinois" expect of 
her son, her brother, or her lover, than the Spartan 
mother did of her son whom she told to come back 
bearing his shield triumphantly or be brought back 
dead upon it. The soldier "sang of love and not of 
fame" when he took up the sweet refrain of "Just 
Before the Battle, Mother." Well does the author 
remember that when each regiment of Illinois troops 
went to the front in the Spanish-American War its 
band would play, "The Girl I Left Behind Me." In 
our World War the women, as well as the men, like 
the Patriarch of old, eilfered up their own sons. 



96 ILLINOIS 

praying for victory without the sacrifice if it pleased 
God. but resigning- to His will if He required it. 
Such influences through childhood and youth and 
manhood would make him feel happy to die fighting 
for his country. The immortal Lincoln had these in 
mind when he said: "Let reverence of the laAv be 
breathed by every mother to the lisping babe that 
prattles in her lap ; let it be taught in schools, semi- 
naries, and colleges ; let it be written in primers, 
spelling books and almanacs ; let it be preached from 
pulpits, and proclaimed in legislative halls, and en- 
forced in courts of justice; in short, let it become the 
political religion of the nation." 

175. "I'm From Illinois." 

"Through the long vista of departed years. 
The kindling eye now gazes — dimmed with tears 
And now with magic power behold it brings 
The sweets of memory without its stings." 

^^llen we view our great state in the light of 
past, present and future events, witnessing its tri- 
umphs of both peace and war. it makes us proud to 
be an Illinoisan and there is added greater wealth 
of pride \han ever before to that beloved boast. 'T 
am an American citizen." and that auxiliary one, 
"I'm from Illinois." As La Salle looked from his 
fort on Starved Rock, "inaccessible as an eagle's 
nest," over his thousands of Indian Braves that 
roamed over valley and plain, little did he dream 
that instead of a vast French Dominion, a state like 
oiu's would exist with a name that had always been 
maoic in his ears — Illinois. 



ILLINOIS 



97 




Every acre of ground, every house and lot, every bit 
of personal property in the State gets its value largely 
through the development of standards of intelligent appre- 
ciation and intelligent desires. When the savage roamed 
over this rich land it was worthless, because he had not the 
intelligence, not the education, not the training to under- 
stand the land and its resources. The safety of property 
depends upon the honesty of the people. The honesty of 
the people depends upon their respect for law and prop- 
erty. This respect for law and property is largely a crea- 
ture for education. I believe the value and safety of prop- 
erty depend upon the universality and soundness of our 
education. 



98 ILLINOIS 



REFERENCES 



Illinois Blue Book, contains much valuable information 
and can be gotten free from the Secretary of State. 

Governors of Illinois, contains sketches of all the 
governors and can be gotten free from the Secretary of the 
Illinois Historical Society. 

The following can be bought at reasonable prices : 
The Jesuits of North America, Francis Parkman. 
Fifty Years of Conflict, Francis Parkman. 
Conspiracy of Pontiac, Francis Parkman. 
Discovery of the Great West, Francis Parkman. 
The Struggle for a Continent, Francis Parkman. 
The Man With the Iron Hand, John C. Parrish. 
Old Kaskaskia, Mrs. Catherwood. 
Starved Rock, E. G. Osman. 
France in America, R. C. Thwait. 

Life and Adventures of Black Hawk, Benjamin Drake. 
Pioneer Days, Elbert Waller. 
Negro Servitude in Illinois, A^ D. Harris. 
Students History of Illinois, Geo. W. Smith. 
Illinois, Grace Humphrey. 
Historic Illinois, Randall Parrish. 
Alice of Old Vincennes, Maurice Thompson. (A fine story) 

The following can be found in public libraries : 
History of Illinois, Rufus Blanchard. (Old. A good 

sketch of the Indians.) 
The Early History of Illinois, Sidney Breese. 
History of Illinois, Ninian W. Edwards. (1778-1833) 
History of Illinois, Henry Brown. (To 1844) 
Illinois, Historical and Statistical, Judge John Moses. 
My Own Times, John Reynolds. 
Pioneer History of Illinois. John Reynolds. 
History of Education in Illinois, John W. Cook. 
Centennial History of Illinois, Vol. I, (1673-1818) 
Centennial History of Illinois, Vol. II, (1818-1848) 
Centennial History of Illinois. Vol. Ill, (1848-1870) 
Centennial History of Illinois, Vol. IV, (1870-1893) 
Centennial History of Illinois, Vol. V. (1893-1918) 



ILLINOIS 99 



You should have a copy of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates. 
Several publishing houses supply them as school classics. 
You should have a copy of the Life of Lincoln. There are 
many good ones. 

APPENDIX 



IMPORTANT DATES AND EVENTS 

1673 — Coming of Marquette and Joliet, (12) 

1679 — Coming of LaSalle and Tonti. (13) 

1700 — Settlement of Cahokia and Kaskaskia. (14) 

1719 — First slaves brought to Illinois. (16) 

1765 — The Union Jack displaces the Lilies of France. (17) 

1778 — Expedition of George Rogers Clark. (23-34) 

1787— Ordinance of 1787 adopted. (42) 

1811— First steamboat on the Ohio. (52) 

1812 — Massacre of Fort Dearborn. (55) 

1814 — First newspaper published in Illinois. (59) 

1816 — Beginning of "Wildcat Banks" in Illinois. (60) 

1818— Illinois admitted to the Union. (70-71) 

1820— Capital moved to Vandalia. (74) 

1824 — Fight against legalizing slavery in Illinois. (78) 

1825 — First free schools established in Illinois. (80) 

1832— The Black Hawk War. (90-93) 

1837— Murder of Elijah P. Lovejoy. (99) 

1839— Capital moved to Springfield. (104) 

1840 — First Anti-slaverv candidate for president. (105) 

1844— The Mormon trouble. (108) 

1848 — Second constitution of Illinois adopted. (115) 

1858— Lincoln-Douglas debates. (124) 

1860 — Lincoln elected president. (130) 

1865— End of the Civil War. (137) 

1870— Third Constitution of Illinois adopted. (142) 

1898— Spanish-American War. (155) 

1918— Illinois Centennial. (165) 

1918— World War ended. (166) 

11. JESUIT MISSIONARIES— The motto of this 
order was "Ad Maijorem Dei Gloriam." They were anxious 
to spread the gospel among the Indians and to convert them. 



100 



ILLINOIS 



Referring to them in the "Conspiracy of Pontiac," Park- 
man says, "They toiled with self-sacrificing devotion which 
extorts a tribute of admiration even from sectarian bigotry." 

12. FORT CREVE COUR— Father Hennepin said, 
"We named it Creve conr because the desertion of some of 
our men and other difficulties had almost broken our hearts." 
We are hardly inclined to believe that LaSalle would have 
given it that name for that reason although the difficulties 
he surmounted would have broken the heart of a man of 
ordinary mettle. It is more probable that the name was 
given by Tonti as a reminder of victory, for while he was 
with the French army under Louis XIV he helped to take 
a fort by that name from the Netherlands. 

GOVERNORS AND LIEUTENANT-GOVERNORS 
OF ILLINOIS 



D., Democrat; R., Republican; **Resigned; *Died in office. 



Date 



Governor 



1818— Shadrach Bond D 

1822— Edward Cole D 

1826— Ninian Edwards D 

1830— John Reynolds* D 

1834— William L. D. Ewing...D 

1834 — Joseph Duncan D 

1838— Thomas Carlin D 

1842— Thomas Ford D 

1846 — Augustus C. French D 

1848— Augustus C. French.... D 

1853— Joel A. Mattison D 

1857— William H. Bissell**. . .R 

1860_John Wood R 

1861— Richard Yates, Sr R 

1865— Richard J. Oglesby R 

1869— Tohn M. Palmer R 

1873— Richard J. Oglesby**. . .R 

1873— John L. Beveridge R 

1877— Shelbv M. Cullom R 

1881— Shelby M. Cullom**. .. .R 



l^ievitenant Governor 

Pierre Menard D 

Adolphus Hubbard D 

William Kinney D 

William L. D. Ewing...D 

j Alexander M. Jenkins*.. D 

/ William H. Davidson... D 

Stinson H. Anderson... D 

John Moore D 

Joseph B. Wells D 

William McMurtry D 

Gustave Koerner D 

John Wood R 

Frances A. Hoffman.... D 

William Bross R 

John Dougherty R 

John L. Beveridge R 

Andrew Shuman R 

John M. Hamilton R 



ILLINOIS 



101 



Date Governor 

1883— John M. Hamilton R 

1885— Richard J. Oglesby R 

1889— Joseph W. Fifer R 

1893— John P. Altgeld D 

1897— John R. Tanner R 

1901— Richard Yates, Jr R 

1905— Chas. S. Deneen R 

1909— Chas. S. Deneen. ..:.. .R 

1913— Edward F. Dunne D 

1917— Frank O. Lowden R 



Lieutenant Governor 

John C. Smith R 

Lyman B. Ray R 

Joseph B. Gill D 

William A. Northcott. . .R 
William A. Northcott. . .R 
Lawrence Y. Sherman... R 

John G. Oglesby R 

Barret O'Hara D 

John G. Oglesby R 



U.S. SENATORS FROM ILLINOIS 
1818-1919 



"The Senate of the United .States shall be composed of 
two Senators from each State, chosen by the legislature 
thereof, for six years." "No person shall be a Senator who 
shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been 
nine years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, 
when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he 
shall be cl;iosen." The U. S. Constitution was so amended in 
1913 as to provide for their election by the people hereafter. 



* Died in office; ** Resigned; 
Independent. 



D., Democrat; R., Republican; Ind., 



Name 




Residence 


In 


Out 


Ninian Edwards . . . . 


..D.. 


. . Kaskaskia . . . . 


..1818 


i819 


Jesse B. Thomas . . . . 


..D.. 


. . Kaskaskia . . . . 


..1818 


1823 


** Ninian Edwards . . 


...D.. 


. .Edwardsville .. 


..1819 


1824 


Jesse B. Thomas 


..D.. 


. .Edwardsville .. 


...1823 


1829 


John McLean 


,..D.. 


. . Shawneetown . 


. . 1824 


1825 


Elias Kent Kane . . . 


,..D.. 


. .Kaskaskia .... 


. . 1825 


1831 


♦John McLean 


..D.. 


. . Shawneetown . 


. . 1829 


1830 


David J. Baker 


..D.. 


..Kaskaskia ..11- 


-12-30 : 


12-11-30 


John M. Robinson.... 


..D.. 


. .Carmi : 


...1830 


1835 


*Elias Kent Kane 


..D.. 


..Kaskaskia 


...1831 


1835 


John M. Robinson.... 


..D.. 


. . Carmi 


..1835 


1841 


W. L D. Ewing 


..D.. 


. . Vandalia 


. . 1835 


1837 


Richard M. Young. . . 


...D.. 


. .Jonesboro 


..1837 


1843 


♦Samuel McRoberts . 


..D.. 


. . Waterloo 


. . 1841 


1843 



102 



ILLIXOIS 



Name 

Sidney Breese 

James Semple 

Stephen A. Douglas 

James Shields 

Stephen A. Douglas 
Lyman Truinbull . . 
♦Stephen A. Douglas 
Lyman Trumbull . . 
O. H. Browning. . . . 
W. A. Richardson . . 
Richard Yates. Sr. . . 
Lyman Trumbull . . 

John A. Logan 

Richard J. Oglesby. 

David Davis 

John A. L^gan 

Shelby M. Cullom.. 
♦John A. Logan .... 
Charles B, Farwell. 
Shelby M. Cullom.. 

John M. Palmer 

Shelby M. Cullom.. 
William E. Mason . . 
Shelby M. Cullom.. 
Albert T. Hopkins.. 
Shelbv M. Cullom.. 
**nV. R. Lorimer.. 
J. Hamilton Lewis. 

L. Y. Sherman 

L. Y. Sherman 

Medill McCormick 



Residence In Out 

..D....Carlvle 1843 1849 

..D.... Alton 1843 1847 

..D....Quincv 1847 1853 

..D.... Springfield 1849 1855 

..D.... Chicago 1853 1859 

..D.... Belleville 1855 1861 

..D.... Chicago 1859 1861 

..R.... Chicago 1861 1867 

..R....Quincv 1861 1863 

..D....Quincv 1863 1865 

..R.... Jacksonville 1865 1871 

..R.... Chicago 1867 1873 

..R.... Chicago 1871 1877 

..R.... Decatur 1873 1879 

• Ind Bloomington 1877 1883 

..R.... Chicago 1879 1885 

..R.... Springfield 1883 1889 

..R.... Chicago 1885 1886 

..R.... Chicago 1887 1891 

..R.... Springfield 1889 1895 

..D....SDringfield 1891 1897 

..R.... Springfield 1895 1901 

..R ...Chicago 1897 1903 

..R.... Springfield 1901 1907 

..R.... Aurora 1903 1909 

..R.... Springfield 1907 1913 

..R.... Chicago 1909 1912 

..D.... Chicago 1913 1919 

..R.... Chicago 1913 1915 

..R.... Chicago 1915 

..R.... Chicago 1919 



*** On account of briber\' of legislators he was declared 
not legally elected, July 13. 1912. 



ILLINOIS 



103 



FACTS ABOUT THE COUNTIES OF ILLINOIS 



* Not under township organization. 



Name Organized Sq. mi. 

Adams 1825.... 830. 

Alexander* ....1819.... 220. 

Bond 1817.... 380. 

Boone 1837.... 288. 

Brown 1839.... 306. 

Bureau 1837.... 840. 

Calhoun* 1825.... 251. 

Carroll 1839.... 450. 

Cass* 1837.... 460. 

Champaign .... 1833. .. .1008. 

Christian 1839.... 702. 

Clark 1819.... 513. 

Qay 1824.... 466. 

Clinton 1824.... 487. 

Coles 1830.... 520. 

Cook 1831.... 890. 

Crawford 1816.... 470. 

Cumberland ...1843.... 350. 

DeKalb 1837.... 650. 

DeWitt 1839.... 440. 

Douglas 1857.... 410. 

DuPage 1839.... 340. 

Edgar 1823.... 640. 

Edwards* 1814.... 220. 

Effingham .....1831.... 486. 

Fayette 1821.... 720. 

Ford 1859.... 580. 

Franklin 1818.... 430. 

Fulton 1823.... 864. 

Gallatin 1812.... 340. 

Greene 1821.... 540. 

Grundy 1841.... 440. 

Hamilton 1821.... 440. 

Hancock 1825.... 780. 

Hardin* 1839.... 180. 

Henderson ....1841.... 380. 



Pop, 1910 Origin of Name 

64588 J. Q. Adams 

22741 W. M. Alexander 

17075 Shadrach Bond 

15481 Daniel Boone 

10397 Jacob Brown 

43975 P. de Buero 

8610 J. C. Calhoun 

18035 Chas. Carroll 

17372 Lewis Cass 

51829 A county in Ohio 

34549 A county in Ky. 

23517 Geo. R. Clark 

18661 Henrv Qay 

, 22832 DeWitt Clinton 

, 34517 Edward Coles 

2405233 Dan P. Cook 

, 26281 W. H. Crawford 

14281 Cumberland R'd 

33457 Baron DeKalb 

, 18906 DeWitt Qinton 

. 19591 S. A. Douglas 

33432 Dupage River 

27336 John Edgar 

10490 Ninian Edwards 

. 20255 Ed. Effingham 

. 28001 La Favette 

. 17096 Thos. Ford 

25943. .. .Benjamin Franklin 

. 49549 Robert Fulton 

. 14628 Albert Gallatin 

23363 Nathaniel Greene 

. 24162 Felix Grundv 

. 18227 A. Hamilton 

. 30638 John Hancock 

7015 A county in Ky. 

. 10727 Henderson River 



104 



ILLINOIS 



Name Organized Sq. mi. 

Henry 1825.... 825. 

Iroquois 1833. ... 1100. 

Jackson 1816.... 580. 

Jasper 1831.... 484. 

Jefferson 1819.... 466. 

Jersey 1839.... 360. 

Jo Daviess ....1817.... 650. 

Johnson* 1812.... 340. 

Kane 1836.... 540. 

Kankakee .. ..1851.... 680. 

Kendall 1841.... 321. 

Knox 1825.... 720. 

Lake 1839.... 394. 

LaSalle 1831 .... 1152. 

Lawrence ... .1821.... 362., 

Lee 1839.... 728. 

Livingston ... .1837. ... 1026. 

Logan 1839.... 620. 

Macon 1829.... 580. 

Macoupin 1829.... 864. 

Madison 1812.... 740. 

Marion 1824.... 576. 

Marshall 1839.... 350. 

Mason 1841.... 518. 

Massac* 1843.. .. 240. 

McDonough ..1826.... 576., 

McHenry 1836.... 612. 

McLean 1830. . . . 11'61 . , 

Menard* 1839.... 311. 

Mercer 1825.... 550. 

Monroe* 1816.... 380. 

Montgomery . . 1821 740. 

Morgan* 1823.... 563. 

Moultrie 1843.... 340. 

Ogle 1836.... 773. 

Peoria 1825.... 630. 

Perry* 1827.... 432. 

Piatt 1841.... 440. 

Pike 1821.... 756. 

Pope* 1816.... 360. 

Pulaski* 1843.... 190. 

Putnam 1825.... 170. 



Pop, 1910 Origin of Name 

41736 Patrick Henry 

15543 Indian name 

33143 Andrew Jackson 

18157 Sgt. W." Jasper 

291 11 Thomas Jefferson 

13954 New Jersey 

22654 Jo Daviess 

14331 R. M. Johnson 

91862 Elias K. Kane 

40752 Indian name 

10777 Amos Kendall 

46159 Henry Knox 

55058 Lake M ichigan 

90132 LaSalle. Exp. 

22661 Jas. Lawrence 

27250 R. H. Lee 

40465 Ed. Livingston 

30216 Dr. John Logan 

54186 Nathaniel Macon 

50685 Indian name 

89847 Jas. Madison 

35037 Francis Marion 

15679 John Marshall 

\7377 A county in Ky. 

14200 Fort Massac 

26887 T. McDonough 

32509 Wm. McHenry 

68008 John McLean 

12796 Pierre Menard 

19723 Hugh Mercer 

13508 Jas. Monroe 

35311 R. Montgomery 

34420 Daniel Morgan 

M630 Wm. Moultrie 

27864 Joseph Ogle 

100255 Indian name 

22088 0. H. Perry 

16376 Benj. Piatt 

28622 Z. M. Pike 

1121.S Nathaniel Pope 

15650 Casimir Pulaski 

7561 Israel Putnam 



ILLINOIS 



105 



Name Organized Sq. mi. 

Randolph* .. ..1795.... 560.. 

Richland 1841.... 380.. 

Rock Island ...1831.... 420.. 

Saline 1847.... 396.. 

Sangamon 1821.... 875.. 

Schuyler 1825.... 414.. 

Scott* 1839.... 252.. 

Shelby 1827.... 760.. 

Stark 1839.... 290.. 

St. Clair 1790.... 680.. 

Stephenson ....1837.... 573.. 

Tazewell 1827.... 650.. 

Union* 1818.... 400.. 

Vermillion 1826.... 882.. 

Wabash* 1824.... 220.. 

Warren 1825.... 540.. 

Washington ...1818.... 557.. 

Wayne 1819... 720.. 

White 1815.... 500.. 

Whiteside 1836.... 676.. 

Will 1836.... 850.. 

Williamson ....1839.... 440.. 

Winnebago ....1836.... 540.. 

Woodford 1841.... 556.. 

Population of Illinois 



Pop, 1910 Origin of Name 

29120 Em'd Randolph 

15970 A county in Ohio 

70404 Island same name 

30204 Saline Creek 

91029 Indian name 

14852 Philip Schuyler 

10067 A county in Ky. 

31693 Isaac Shelby 

10098 John Stark 

119870 A. St. Clair 

36821 Benj. Stephenson 

34027 L. W. Tazewell 

21856 The Union 

77996 Vermillion River 

14913 Indian name 

23133 Jos. Warren 

18753 G. Washington 

25697 Anthony Wayne 

23052 Leonard White 

34507 S. Whiteside 

84371 Conrad Will 

"45098.... A county in Tenn. 

63153 Indian name 

20506 A county in Ky. 

(in 1920) 6,485,098. 



106 ILLINOIS 



STATE OFFICERS 



GOVERNOR 

Len Small, elected 1920. 

LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR 

Fred E. Sterling, elected 1920. 

SECRETARY OF STATE 

L. L. Emerson, re-elected 1920. 

AUDITOR OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS 

Andrew Russell, re-lected 1920. 

STATE TREASURER 

Edward E. Miller, elected 1920. 

SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 

Francis G. Blair, re-elected 1920. 

ATTORNEY GENERAL 

Edward J. Brundage, re-elected 1920. 

CLERK OF SUPREME COURT 

Charles W. Vail, re-elected 1920. 

The Treasurer holds ofifice for two years and cannot 
succeed himself. All the others, with the exception of the 
Clerk of the Supreme Court are elected for four years. He 
is elected for six years. 



INDEX 



(Numbers refer to paragraphs.) 



Aborigines, 1-10. 

A. F. & A. M., 50. 

Albion, Id. 

Algonquins, 2, 5. 

Alleghenies, 36. 

Altgeld, John P., 146, 150, 

152. 
Alton, 54, 84, 88, 124, 128. 
Amendment, Thirteenth, 137. 
Amendment, Eighteenth, 167 
Amendment, Nineteenth, 168. 
American Bottom, 8, 36. 
American Railway Union, 

152. 
Americans, 54. 
Anarchists, 147. 

Badgley, Rev. David, 46, 
Bank of Kaskaskia, 60. 
Bank of Edwardsville, 60. 
Bank of Illinois, 106. 
Bank of Shawneetown, 60. 
Banks, Private, 118. 
Bank, State, 76, 87, 89, 95, 

106. 
Banks, "Wildcat". 60, 1(>. 
Baptist Church, 46. 
Beveridge, John L., 145. 
Birney, Gen. James G., 105 
Bissell, William H.. 123, 126. 
Black Hawk War, 11, 90-93 
Black Laws, 74, 137. 
Block Houses, 54. 
Boats, 31, Zd, Z7. 



Boatmen, ?>7, 38. 
Boisbrant, Pierre Duque, 15. 
Bond, Shadrach, 74. 
Boundary of Illinois, 70. 
Breese, Sidney, 75. 
British, 20, 21, 54, 57. 
British Sympathizers, 23. 
Brownsville, 76. 
Burnett, Timothy, 77. 
Burr, Aaron, 49. 

Cahokia, 3, 8. 
Cairo, 117, 131. 
Campbell's Island, 57. 
Campbell, L't 57. 
Camp Russell, 54. 
Canals, 95, 114, 148, 171. 
Capital, 71, 74, 75. 104. 
Capitol, 51, 71, 75, 97, 

104, 141. 
Carlin, Thomas, 102. 
Carbondale, 143. 
Carnival of Crime, 116. 
Carthage, 95. 
Cartright, Rev. Peter, 86. 
Catholic Church, 12. 
Charleston, 124, 153. 
Chartres, Fort, 15, 17, 20. 
Chester, 128. 
Chicago, 48, 54, 100, 144. 
Chicago Fire, 144. 
Church, Baotist, 46. 
Church Catholic, 11. 
Church, Dunkards', 82. 



108 



ILLINOIS 



Church, M. E., 44. 
Church, Cum. Pres. 61. 
Church, Cov. Pres., 62. 
Church, Universalists', 82. 
Civil War, 130-137. 
Clark, George Rogers, 23-36. 
Coles, Edward, 78. 
Congress, 42, 47, 70, 87, 110, 

113. 
Connecticut, 21, 41. 
Constitution, 71, 78, 113, 

115, 142. 
Corn Island, 24. 
Counties, see Appendix. 
Court, Federal, 93. 
Court, U. S. Supreme, 109. 
Court, First in Illinois, 19. 
Counterfeiting, 108, 116. 
Covenanter Presbyterian 

Church, 62. 
Craig, Capt., 56. 
Crime, Carnival of, 114. 
Crozat, 14. 

Cullom, Shelby M., 146. 
Cumberland Presbyterian 

Church, 61. 

Dearborn Massacre, 54. 

Debt, State, 96, 106, 146. 

Debt, War. 41. 

DeKalb, 150. 

Deep Waterway. 171. 

Democrats, 108. 

Deneen, Chas. S., 157. 

Dixon, 81. 

Douglas, Stephen A., 124, 

132. 
Dueling, 77. 

Duncan. Joseph, 80, 87, 98. 
Duncan, Matthew, 59. 
Dunkards, 82. 
Dunne, E. F., 161. 

East St. Louis, 164. 



Eddy, Henry, 78. 
Edwards County, 80. 
Edwards, Ninian W., 119. 
Edwards, Ninian, 83. 
Edwardsville, 83. 
Eel Rivers, 4. 

Eighteenth Amendment, 167. 
Enabling Act, 70. 
England, 33, 39, 54, 138. 
Epidemic, 103. 
Ewing, L. D., 94. 
Exposition, 150. 

Farmers Institute, 156. 
Federal Court, 93. 
Fifer, Joseph W., 148. 
Flag, 27, 73. 
Flatheads, 116. 
Ford, Thomas, 106. 
Fort Chartres, 15, 20. 
Fort Clark, 56. 
Fort Creve Cour, 7, 13. 
Fort Dearborn, 48, 54, 55, 

92. 
Fort Gage, 20. 
Fort Massac, 27. 
Fort Snelling, 85. 
Fort St. Louis, 7, 9, 13. 
Fort Sumpter, 131. 
Forts, 54. 
Foxes, 5, 6, 9, 56. 
France, 17, 39. 
Fraud. 125. 
French, Augustus C. 112, 

115. 

Galena, 75, 102. 
Galesburg, 124. 
Garrison Hill, 149. 
George III, 18. 
Gibault, Father. 28. 
Grant. U. S., 134. 137. 
Great Northern Cross R. R., 
101, 106. 



ILLINOIS 



109 



Hamilton, John M., 146. 
Hamilton, Sir Henry, 30, 33. 
Harrison, William H.. 72. 
Haymarket Riot, 147, 151. 
Heald, Capt., 55. 
Helm, Capt., 29. 
Hennepin, Father Louis, 13. 
Henry, Patrick, 23. 
Homestead Exemption, 118. 

mini, 3, 6. 7, 9, 13, 43. 
Illinois, 12, 13, 15, 35, 43, 54, 

70. 
Illinois Central R. R., 118, 

122. 
Illinois Territory, 51, 53. 
Illinois Herald, 59. 
Indiana, 43, 51. 
Indiana Territory, 47. 
Indians, 1, 14, 23, 27, 30, 54, 

55, 57. 
Internal Improvements, 98, 

113. 
I. O. O. F., 96. 
Iroquois, 2, 6, 9, 13. 

Jackson, Andrew, 58, 95. 
Jackson County, 80. 
lesuits, 11. 
Joliet, 123. 
Joliet, Louis, 12. 
Jonesboro, 124. 
Juries, 19. 

Kaskaskia. 8, 14, 15, 16, 20, 
23, 26, 27, 35, 36, 43, 59, 
71, 81, 145, 149. 

Kaskaskia Cemetery, 149. 

Kaskaskia Riyer, 14, 27, 54. 

Kaskaskias, 14. 

Keel Boats, 31, 36, 37. 

Kentucky, 23, 55. 

Kentuckians, 24, 56. 



Keokuk, 90. 
Kickapoos, 5, 6, 9. 
Kidnappers, 116, 127. 
Knights of Golden Circle, 
132. 

Lafayette, Gen., 81. 

Lands, Indian, 90. 

Lands, R. R., 117, 119. 

Lands, School, 87. 

Latter Day Saints, 95. 

LaSalle, 117, 128. 

LaSalle, Robert, 3, 7, 13, 175. 

Lebanon, 86. 

Legislature, 62, 74, 76, 78, 98, 

116, 136. 149, 157. 
Lillard, Rey. Joseph, 44. 
Lincoln, Abraham. 124, 130, 

132, 134, 137, 174. 
Linn, Capt., 25. 
Liquor, 118, 125. 
Logan, John A., 133, 137. 
Louisiana, 14. 
Louis XIV. 14, 15. 
Loyejoy, Rey. Elijah P., 99. 
Lowden, Frank O., 163. 

Macomb, 151. 

Marquette, Father Jacques, 

11. 
Masonic Lodge, 50. 
Matteson, Joel A., 119, 125. 
McGready, Rey. James, 61. 
McKendree College, 86. 
McLean. John, 71. 
M. E. Church, 44. 
Meridosia, 101. 
Metropolis, 43, 128. 
Mexican War, 110. 
Miamis, 4. 
Michigamies, 3. 
Minority Representation, 
142. 



110 



ILLINOIS 



Mormons. 108. 
Money, 60. 
Monroe, James, 71. 
Mounds, 1. 
MurphysborxD, 76. 
Muscogees, 2. 
Muster Days, 58. 

Nauvoo, 108. 

Negroes, 16, 42, 72, 74, 78, 

105, 109, 119, 127, 129, 137, 

164. 
New Design, 40, 44, 46. 
Newspapers, 59. 
New York, 41. 
Nineteenth Amendment, 168. 
Normal, 123. 
Normal, Eastern, 153. 
Normal, Northern, 153. 
Normal, Southern, 143. 
Normal, State, 123. 
Normal, Western, 154. 
Northern Cross Road, 101, 

106. 
Northwest Territory, 47. 

Odd Fellows, 96. 
Ogden. W. B., 100. 
Oglesby, Richard J., 133, 141, 

143. 
Ohio, 43, 47. 

Ordinance of 1787, 42, 78. 
Ottawa, 124. 

Palmer. Gen. John M. 142. 
Peck, Rev. John M., 78, 84. 
Pelley, Anna. 161. 
Penitentiary, 88, 123. 
Peoria, 56. 
Peorias, 3, 8, 9. 
Pet Banks. 95. 
Piankeshaws, 4. 
Pioneers, 63-69. 



Polk, James K., 106. 
Pope, Nathaniel, 70. 
Pottawatomies, 5, 9, 100. 
Presbyterian Church, 61, 62. 
Primary Elections, 156, 159. 
Prohibition, 167. 

Quincy, 101, 124, 128. 
Quebec Act, 21. 

Railroad Lands, 117, 122. 
Railroads, 101, 106, 114, 118, 

122. 
Randolph County, 45. 
Rangers, 56. 
Rebellion, 133, 137. 
Regulators, 116. 
Religious Freedom, 42. 
Renault, Philip F., 16. 
Republicans, 121, 130. 
Reynolds, John, 48, 88, 90, 

94, 114. 
Riot, Chicago, 169. 
Riot, East St. Louis. 164. 
Riot, Springfield, 160. 
Rock Island, 90. 
Rock Springs. 84. 
Russell, William, 56. 

Sacs, 5, 6, 9, 56, 80, 90. 
Salt Works, 88. 
School Lands, 87. 
Schools, 40, 80, 87, 95, 107, 

119. 120, 123. 
Scott. Winfield, 92. 
Seeley, S. J.. 40. 
Sharon. 61. 
Shawnees, 5. 

Shawneetown, 60. 76. 81. 83. 
Shields, Gen. James, 110, 

111. 
Shiloh. 44. 
Shurtleff College, 84, 



ILLINOIS 



111 



Sioux, 5. 

Slavery, 16, 42, 72, 74, 78, 

105, 109, 127, 129. 132, 137. 
Smith, Prof. G. W., 25. 
Smith, Joseph, 108. 
Songs, 135. 
Spain, 39. 

Spanish-American War, 155. 
Springfield, 101, 103, 160. 
Starved Rock, 9, 173. 
State Bank, 87, 89, 95. 106. 
State Debt, 98, 106, 146. 
State Normal, 123. 
State University, 140. 
St. Qair, Gen. Arthur, 43 
St. Clair County, 43, 45. 
Stevenson, B. F., 139. 
Stevenson, A. E., 159. 
Stewart, A. C, 77. 
Sterling, Capt.. 17. 
Steamboats, 52. 
Stillman, 91. 
St. Louis, 17, 131. 
Supt. of Schools, 107, 115. 
Supreme Court of U. S., 

109. 
Surplus Revenue, 95. 

Tamaroa, 8, 
Tamaroas, 3, 6. 8, 14. 
Tanner, John R., 154. 
Taylor, Zacharv. 57. 
Teachers. 68, 120. 174. 
Thirteenth Amendment, 137. 
Thomas, Jesse B. 62. 
Todd. John, 35. 
Tonti, Henry, 12. 



Township Organization, 

118. 
Treaty of Paris, 17. 

Underground Railway, 127, 

129. 
Union Jack, 17, 27. 
Universalists, 82. 
Urbana, 140. 
Utica, 8. 

Vandalia, 74, 75, 81, 102. 
Venison, 64, 75. 
Vincennes, 29, 31, 55. 
Virginia, 21, 23, 35, 41. 

Wabash River, 29, 31, 45, 54. 
War Debt. 41. 
War of 1812, 11, 54-57. 
War Governor, 131. 
Weas, 4. 
Whigs, 108. 
Wigwam. The, 130. 
"Wildcat" Banks, 60, 76. 
Winnebagoes. 5, 6. 
Wisconsin, 12, 91, 113. 
Witchcraft, 35. 
Wolfe, Rev. George, 82. 
Wolfe, Gen. James, 17. 
Women, 172, 173, 174. 
Wood, John. 126. 
World's Columbian Ex- 
position. 150. 
Wylie, Rev. Samuel, 62. 

Yates, Richard, 156. 
Yates, Richard, Sr., 127. 



HISTORY OF 



COUNTY, ILLINOIS 



